Sunday, February 23, 2014

G20 vows to add $2 tn to world economy to lift growth (via AFP)

G20 vows to add $2 tn to world economy to lift growth (via AFP)
The world's biggest economies vowed Sunday to boost global growth by more than $2 trillion over five years, shifting their focus away from austerity as a fragile recovery takes hold. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20,…


9 comments:

Matt Franko said...

What are they going to do?????

More QE????

Less "tapering"?????

there is no information provided here...

They can have the best intentions it doenst matter....

This is a bunch of morons blathering on about nothing....


rsp,

Tom Hickey said...

My impression, too, Matt.

The agreed point seems to be increasing private investment. How is government going to that when this is what lowering the interest rate is supposed to accomplish and it hasn't worked out so well. Nothing about increasing demand through loosening fiscal policy.

Lost at sea.

Anonymous said...

It's an open-ended statement of purpose. They mostly mean more government investment spending, I think. Agreeing to move away from austerity as a group gives each government more domestic political cover to do it domestically.

However, watch out for a new push for crony capitalist trade rackets sold as a growth strategy.

Matt Franko said...

Tom stunningly it seems they are taking a page out of the US GOP playbook here:

"Ministers said the figure could be reached by increasing investment and employment (Ed: DUH!) and enhancing trade,"

Dont tell me new tax cuts for capex and new accelerated depreciation schemes, and more race to the bottom "free trade"?????

they dont even know what the heck is even going on... this is an embarrassment...

rsp,

Tom Hickey said...

They always want to work through the private investment channel to increase incomes hence demand. Supply side all the way. That's what interest rate setting is predicated on. Lower rates to increase investment > income >growth >employment and then raise rates to control inflation when things heat up.

They could mean loosening the fiscal stance and increasing public investment, but that 's not what they say there, at least I don't see any indication of it.

Dan Lynch said...

What Matt said.

Re: "He stressed the need for structural reforms" And we all know that "structural reform" is code for cuts to social programs and regulations.

Re: "private-sector investment as a central plank." My guess is they are talking about Neoliberal infrastructure banks, where public money is used to fund for-profit infrastructure like toll roads. Obama has repeatedly pushed infrastructure banks. It's a sweetheart deal for corporations -- the government takes the risk on the loans while the corporations get subsidized interest rates and of course the profits from the tolls.
http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/77568/everything-you-wanted-know-about-national-infrastructure-banks-were-afraid-

Don't think for a minute that the G20 stuff is a turn away from neoliberalism.

Unknown said...

Agree with Matt.

The only unassailable conclusion to be reached is that Joe Hockey is an utter dolt.

Peter Pan said...

Switch and bait.

googleheim said...

Oh, now we see

Stimulus is their idea now.

Austerity was never their idea.

As long as it comes from their chalk board, eh ?