G20

As John Lennon wrote, 'life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.' How true for Australia's plans for the G20. Life is not being kind in the lead-up to the Brisbane G20 Summit. The head winds for the summit so far include: International organisations (the IMF and World Bank)

There are many countries which do not much like the central role of the US dollar. But while they generally (and grudgingly) agree that there is not much to be done about it for now, a punishment recently meted out by US financial regulators against BNP Paribas (BNPP) has incensed European leaders

Given developments in the Ukraine and tensions elsewhere in the world, the time has come to put security and geo-political issues directly on the agenda for the meeting of G20 leaders, and for those leaders to bring their foreign ministers to the Brisbane Summit. Soon after President Bush announced

Much of the mountain of commentary and analysis of the 2008 Great Recession has been either critical (Paul Krugman might be typical), or a self-interested defence (Tim Geithner and Larry Summers provide examples). Daniel Drezner's The System Worked is atypical in two respects: he was not a

The IMF/G20 meetings in Washington last week were not good for the US. And things may get worse. Instead of focusing on the possibility of additional economic sanctions on Russia, which no doubt would have been the desire of the US, the headlines were 'G20 gives US ultimatum over IMF reforms'. 

Co-authored by Hugh Jorgensen. What are the implications of Russia's action in the Ukraine for the G20? Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she is considering refusing to engage with Russia over the agenda for this year’s G20 summit. As the immediate past chair of the G20, Russia is

Well, not all G20 finance ministers came to Sydney this weekend. No-shows were from South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Italy and the World Bank president. The Guardian reported that the number of ministers failing to show up to Sydney was an indication of the G20's fall from grace.  This was a bit

Treasurer Joe Hockey's speech at the Lowy Institute today picked up on, and in some areas expanded upon, many of the issues raised in Prime Minister Abbott's G20 address in Davos. As Mike Callaghan noted of the Prime Minister's comments in Davos, the Treasurer's speech bore the imprint of its

The starter's gun has fired on Australia's G20 presidency. It was a low key start. The Prime Minister's media release was very brief. This is a positive. The G20 should always be business-like, with the focus on achieving substantive outcomes rather than on the event itself. Start to worry if we

Hugh Jorgensen is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre. Last night in her address to Commonwealth foreign ministers, who are meeting in Sri Lanka for a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Julie Bishop took the opportunity to outline Australia's vision for 'the G20

Australian trade officials are having a busy time at the moment. Firstly, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is being discussed in Bali, alongside the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. Secondly, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has just concluded another negotiating session

Hugh Jorgensen is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre. It took me three years of work to get us into the G20. We are hosting it next year. To have this jammed up against a federal election date is a problem and if I can overcome that problem I will. — Kevin