经贸专业英语报刊阅读教程 第二课 Global Economic Forum to Expand Permanently

Global Economic Forum to Expand Permanently

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS

Published: September 24, 2009

PITTSBURGH —President Obama will announce Friday that the once elite club of rich industrial nations known as the Group of 7 will be permanently replaced as a global forum for economic policy by the much broader Group of

20 that includes China, Brazil, India and other fast-growing developing countries, administration officials said Thursday.

The move highlights the growing economic importance of Asia and some Latin American countries, particularly since the United States and many European countries have found their banking systems crippled by an economic crisis originating in excesses in the American mortgage market.

For more than three decades, the main economic group was the Group of 7 — the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. During the Clinton years, Russia was gradually added, not because of the size of its economy, but to help integrate it with the West. Administration officials said the group would still meet twice a year to discuss security issues. But for practical purposes, the smaller group will become more like a dinner club that defers to the broader group on the economic issues that have dominated summit meetings for nearly three decades. The development, as Mr. Obama was hosting a summit meeting here for leaders of the Group of 20 — 19 countries and the European Union—also highlighted the lingering disparity between the elite group of mostly Western powers and the mass of poorer nations. For al l of Mr. Obama’s talk about greater inclusiveness for countries like Brazil and China, the meeting in Pittsburgh remains dominated by the financial crisis that began in the United States and has preoccupied the old boys’ club.

The issue that many developing countries feel much more strongly about —knocking down barriers to trade, especially in politically sensitive sectors like agriculture — is barely likely to be part of the official discussions.

Rather, the packed agenda includes proposals to raise capital requirements for financial institutions, rein in executive compensation and reduce imbalances between shop-till-you-drop countries like the United States and export behemoths like China, Germany and Japan.

Even as Mr. Obama participated in his first Group of 8 meeting in July in

L’Aquila, Italy, he seemed to have doubts about its suitability as a forum for solving the world’s problems. At the time, his aides characterized the session as merely a way station between Group of 20 meetings.

“We view this meeting and this dis cussion as a midpoint between the London

G-20 summit and the Pittsburgh G-20 summit,” said Mike Froman, the president’s chief negotiator.

The merits of the different sizes of gathering — 8 nations, 19 or sometimes something in between — have been vigorously debated.

Proponents of the smaller group say the friendships it fosters are important when friction arises in the group or outside it in one-on-one policy disputes between nations. They also point to complications that arise when 20 countries with vastly different economies try to reach agreement on setting exchange rates or other complex financial questions.

Supporters of the larger group say the emerging nations, and the huge slice of the world’s population that they represent, must have a seat at the t able to debate not only economic issues, but also environmental issues like climate change.

T hough the huge expansion of global trade has been at the heart of “global imbalances” that Obama officials say they want to address, European and Asian officials gathering here say they cannot tell whether Mr. Obama really wants to push for more open trade. He and his economic advisers have repeatedly warned against responding to the economic crisis by erecting barriers to imports.

But global leaders, noting that Mr. Obama’s words are not always in sync with his actions, wonder if the president is a free trader or a protectionist.