Pittsburgh : the recovery summit ?

This week, on 24 and 25 September, Pittsburgh will host the third G20 Summit since the outbreak of the financial crisis just over a year ago. Will this be the recovery summit? Will these 20 Leaders take measures to prevent a repeat of the near financial meltdown of 2008, and most of all, lay the groundwork for sustainable recovery of the global economy?

Remember, even if stock markets have been rising, and some indicators in the US and Europe have removed the worst of gloom and doom, unemployment is still on the rise, and public sector budgets are being hit badly in many countries. In some case, as in Central and Eastern Europe, public revenues have already dropped dramatically. In other areas, public revenue cuts are only now starting to bite because of time lags. Even where national stimulus packages have helped, local government revenues have dropped drastically in many countries, in the US, Chile and Sweden, for example, and that means schools and teachers have been hit.

Earlier this month, there was a lot of talk of “exit strategies”, which is code for winding down stimulus packages and cutting back on public spending in order to reduce debt. There is less talk of that in the final days leading up to the Summit. Australian PM Kevin Rudd, UK PM Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, have all said that talk of ending stimulus packages is premature.

Some issues being highlighted:

From leaked letter from the Chancellor of Germany, the PM of Britain and the President of France:
3Stop financial practices that lead to the crisis, including inflated and inappropriate bonuses.

From leaked letter from the White House (by the US “Sherpa”, the top official advising the President):
3Address imbalances in the global economy
3Establish a framework for sustainable growth
3Prioritize jobs and skills for the 21st century
3Strengthen recovery in the poorest countries

By the IMF Director General:
3Rebalance growth – move away from countries having large surpluses while others have large deficits. The Ambassador of China to the US, however downplays the issue of global imbalances, and calls for action to avoid protectionism.

By the World Bank President:
3Don’t leave the poor behind

The US delegation, host for the Summit, is circulating a proposal to support the ILO Jobs Pact and to convene a meeting of ILO Labour Ministers and top education officials in the US in early 2010. The Obama administration underlines that skills development is fundamental to durable recovery. If this proposal is approved by the other G20 leaders, we have a good basis for moving forward with EI’s agenda – Invest in education: the smart strategy for recovery.


Source: Global Unions Washington Office

Links:

Global Unions Pittsburgh Declaration (pdf) http://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/0909t_g20_Pittsburgh_en.pdf

Proposed US workforce policy proposal (pdf) http://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/G20%20Pittsburgh%20US%20proposal.pdf

Letter by Michael Froman (pdf) http://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/Froman%20Letter%20on%20Pittsburgh%20Summit%20Agenda.pdf

Letter by Angela Merkel, Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy (pdf) http://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/lettreMerkelBrownSarkozy.pdf