In late September all eyes will be on the world’s leaders as they gather in Pittsburgh for the Group of Twenty (G20) meeting. Their last gathering at the London Summit in April was hailed as the most important economic meeting since the Great Depression. In my view, the forthcoming G20 meeting is as important, for two key reasons.

First, it is vital that the imminent but fragile global recovery is not blown off-course by premature policy tightening. Second, the global imbalances that contributed to this crisis threaten to be as big an issue in coming years as in the recent past.

World leaders may feel genuinely upbeat when they meet. Policy works, recessions end, may be their message. Yet they must not be complacent, particularly leaders from the West. The recovery, so far, is centred on emerging economies, such as China, where the policy stimulus has been significant.

In contrast, last week both the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England sent cautious messages. They were right to do so.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Globalization • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • The U.S. Government • Federal Reserve • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A. • England / UK

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