The authors of this short primer, M. Nicolas J. Firzli, World Pensions, and the Hon. Nick Sherry, Australia’s first Minister for Superannuation, co-founders of the G20 Pensions Roundtable (held on the sidelines of the G20 Rio Summit 18 – 19 Nov. 2024), are among the early proponents of “infrastructure driven growth”, also known as “modern supply-side economics”, and the “New North–South Dialogue” … etc.
These important concepts were discussed during the pre-G20 finance leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, 25 – 26 July 2024, and related side meetings and presentations, notably regarding the best way to remedy rising risks of a global “soft landing” (or recession), the accelerating Sino-American rivalry (which U.S. policy planners already call “Cold War 2”), a “global tax for the super rich” to combat hunger and poverty in Africa and the Middle-East, which US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rejected abruptly upfront, disappointing the progressive wing of the Democratic party and some of Kamala Harris’s advisors
As usual, there was also the thorny issue of the Russia Ukraine conflict, where the Russian government was de facto shielded from US and EU criticism by both India (2023 G20 host nation) and Brazil, whose combined might blocked in advance any attempt to ostracize Moscow or to extend the G20 seal of approval for the G7’s legally questionable $50 billion “loan” for Ukraine backed by the revenues of seized Russian state assets. Other influential G20 member-states including Saudi Arabia, China and Turkey have also contested the legal validity of the G7 plan … Sadly, the rift between “Western North” and “Global South” seems to be widening at the worst possible time
The final G20 Finance communiqué insisted on renewed G20 commitments “against excessive foreign exchange volatility”, which the Japanese government then touted (27 July) as a “clear victory for Tokyo”. The Japanese Yen, which lost 35% vis à vis the US dollar in the past five years, is now viewed by many as the soft underbelly of Asia, and the Fed and ECB are both perceived by some as rather complacent towards the weakness of Japan’s once formidable currency …
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The Future of Finance: CityEvent.org