Reactions
Initial reactions on the Seoul consensus have been mixed. An editorial in The Financial Times described its "pragmatic and pluralistic view of development" as appealing, but also suggested it might "do little more than drive another nail into the coffin of a long-deceased Washington consensus" [6] An article published by The Wall Street Journal was somewhat more positive, noting that a concrete step already taken was to create a new panel of 12 countries that would work on infrastructure financing. [7] The Korean Daily News published an article suggesting the Consensus may turn out to be the only durable achievement of the Seoul Summit. [8]
British charity CAFOD said the new consensus was "eerily familiar" compared to the earlier Washington version, and were not pleased with the emphases on involving the private sector, especially with infrastructure. [9] Oxfam's Avinash Kumar was disappointed by the whole focus on physical infrastructure, suggesting a clearer commitment to improving social infrastructure in less developed countries would have been better. [10]
Some scholars noted the consensus offered vague announcements, but limited details in implementation. Others noted just cosmetic changes between Washington and Seoul Development consensus, hence just "all talk, but no walk". [11] [12]
The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia was expelled in 2014.
The Washington Consensus is a set of ten economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, D.C.-based institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and United States Department of the Treasury. The term was first used in 1989 by English economist John Williamson. The prescriptions encompassed free-market promoting policies such as trade liberalization, privatization and finance liberalization. They also entailed fiscal and monetary policies intended to minimize fiscal deficits and minimize inflation.
The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation and sustainable development.
The Korea Development Institute (KDI) is a Korean government agency established in 1971 to conduct policy research. KDI has conducted research on a broad range of economic and social issues, including macroeconomics policy, fiscal policy, and labor.
The 2006 G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was held in Melbourne, Australia between 18 and 19 November 2006. Issues discussed included "the outlook for the global economy; developments in resource markets and ways to improve their efficiency; the impact of demographic change on global financial markets; and further reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank."
APEC Peru 2008 was a series of political meetings held around Peru between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2008. Although business leaders of the region also met before the summit officially began. Leaders from all the member countries met during November 22–23, 2008, in the capital city of Lima.
The 2008 G20 Washington Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy took place on November 14–15, 2008, in Washington, D.C., United States. It achieved general agreement amongst the G20 on how to cooperate in key areas so as to strengthen economic growth, deal with the 2008 financial crisis, and lay the foundation for reform to avoid similar crises in the future. The Summit resulted from an initiative by the French and European Union President, Nicolas Sarkozy, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. In connection with the G7 finance ministers on October 11, 2008, United States President George W. Bush stated that the next meeting of the G20 would be important in finding solutions to the economic crisis. Since many economists and politicians called for a new Bretton Woods system to overhaul the world's financial structure, the meeting has sometimes been described by the media as Bretton Woods II.
The 36th G8 summit was held in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, on June 25–26, 2010. In this year's meeting, the G8 leaders agreed in reaffirming the group's essential and continuing role in international affairs and "assertions of new-found relevance". The form and function of the G8 was reevaluated as the G20 summits evolved into the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economic cooperation.
The China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit is an annual summit meeting held between the People's Republic of China, Japan and South Korea, three major countries in East Asia and the world's second, third and 12th largest economies. The first summit was held during December 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan. The talks are focused on maintaining strong trilateral relations, the regional economy and disaster relief.
The 2009 G20 London Summit was the second meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state, which was held in London on 2 April 2009 at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre to discuss financial markets and the world economy. It followed the first G20 Leaders Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, which was held in Washington, D.C., on 14–15 November 2008. Heads of government or heads of state from the G20 attended, with some regional and international organisations also represented. Due to the extended membership, it has been referred to as the London Summit.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established in the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF). The Board includes all G20 major economies, FSF members, and the European Commission. Hosted and funded by the Bank for International Settlements, the board is based in Basel, Switzerland, and is established as a not-for-profit association under Swiss law.
The 2010 G20 Seoul Summit was the fifth meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state, to discuss the global financial system and the world economy, which took place in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on November 11–12, 2010. South Korea was the first non-G8 nation to host a G20 leaders' summit.
Currency war, also known as competitive devaluations, is a condition in international affairs where countries seek to gain a trade advantage over other countries by causing the exchange rate of their currency to fall in relation to other currencies. As the exchange rate of a country's currency falls, exports become more competitive in other countries, and imports into the country become more and more expensive. Both effects benefit the domestic industry, and thus employment, which receives a boost in demand from both domestic and foreign markets. However, the price increases for import goods are unpopular as they harm citizens' purchasing power; and when all countries adopt a similar strategy, it can lead to a general decline in international trade, harming all countries.
The 2011 G20 Cannes Summit was the sixth meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state in a series of on-going discussions about financial markets and the world economy.
Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the first crisis of globalisation is a 2010 book by former UK prime minister Gordon Brown. The work argues that the only way to fully overcome the financial crisis of 2007–2010 is with further coordinated global action. Brown states that a shared "global compact" on jobs and growth should be central to effective action, with different regions called on in different ways to contribute to rebalancing the global economy while boosting growth. The book includes first-hand accounts of events leading to previous successful cases of international collaboration on economic affairs. There are specific suggestions about the different ways in which the world's nations and regions can help secure global growth, jobs and poverty reduction. A secondary theme of the work is that better global oversight is needed for the international financial system. Brown suggests that to function at their best, banks and markets need shared morals.
The Currency War of 2009–2011 was an episode of competitive devaluation which became prominent in the financial press in September 2010. It involved states competing with each other in order to achieve a relatively low valuation for their own currency, so as to assist their domestic industry. With the financial crises of 2008 the export sectors of many emerging economies experienced declining orders and from 2009, several states began or increased their levels of currency intervention. According to many analysts the currency war had largely fizzled out by mid-2011 although the war rhetoric persisted into the following year. In 2013, there were concerns of an outbreak of another currency war, this time between Japan and the Euro-zone.
The 2014 G20 Brisbane summit was the ninth meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state. It was held in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, Australia, on 15–16 November 2014. The hosting venue was the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre at South Brisbane. The event was the largest ever peacetime police operation in Australia.
The 41st G7 summit was held in Schloss Elmau, Krün, Bavaria, Germany on 7–8 June 2015. In March 2014 the remaining members of the G8 declared that a meaningful discussion was currently not possible with Russia, and since then meetings have continued under the G7 name.
The 2017 G20 Hamburg summit was the twelfth meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20), which was held on 7–8 July 2017, at Hamburg Messe, in the city of Hamburg, Germany.
