The G20 at the end of 2014
This issue of the G20 Monitor reflects on the state of the G20 at the end of 2014, and offers suggestions for the path forward during Turkey’s 2015 G20 Presidency
Wednesday 27 Jan 2021 | 18:54 | SYDNEY
What's happening on 
G20 Brisbane Summit: Australia's adolescence on show
Australia had a prime chance to demonstrate its adult status in chairing the G20 Summit this year. What did it do with the opportunity?
It showcased some of the characteristic behaviours of an adolescent country, my term for Australia in a new Lowy Institute Paper. Tantalisingly, it also showed
China's G20 year will raise human rights concerns
The G20 party may have ended in Brisbane, but the show rolls on. The leaders' forum will head to Turkey in 2015 and, in his final act as G20 chair for 2014, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed 2016 will see leaders heading to China.
I've just co-written a paper on what the first ever
Financial stability: Did the G20 go far enough?
Financial stability was not the most headline-grabbing topic discussed at the Brisbane G20 meeting, but judging from the official communique word-count (a full 175-word paragraph in the three-page document, plus four substantial items in the annexes), a fair bit must have happened.
Governor of
A G20 watcher in Brisbane
I am from Brisbane, and somewhat ironically, my original ticket out of this city was the G20 analysis I conducted while studying and working at the University of Queensland. In a serendipitous turn of events, Australia and my hometown city were announced as 2014 G20 hosts during that research, which
Weekend catch-up: A G20 special
With the Brisbane G20 Summit on this weekend, The Interpreter's usual weekend catch-up makes way for a 'best of' our G20 material from the past year. The Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre has been publishing on all aspects of the Summit, including what the presidency has meant for Australia, as
Is the Global Infrastructure Hub more than a G20 legacy monument?
By Hugh Jorgensen, Research Associate and Tristram Sainsbury, Research Fellow, both at the Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre.
Infrastructure has been a priority of the Australian G20 presidency, but we haven't seen much in terms of bricks and mortar proposals. Until now.
Writing in The
Will the G20 address inequality at the Brisbane summit?
Of the 60-plus official meetings that have taken place under Australia's 2014 G20 presidency, a grand total of one has managed to produce a final communiqué or meeting report that mentions the word 'inequality'. To be fair, it does mention it twice: the 10-11 September declaration of G20 Labour and
G20 links: Tax mandates, WTO, protests in Brisbane, climate change and more
The Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre will present a weekly selection of links in the lead-up to the Brisbane G20 Leaders’ Summit on 15-16 November.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy have issued a joint letter to EU leaders
G20 Monitor: The G20’s growth agenda
This issue of the G20 Monitor provides a guide to the policies that G20 members will have to tackle to achieve the G20’s 2 per cent growth target, drawing on the recommendations of the IMF, OECD and a number of international think tanks
The WTO is in big trouble
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Roberto Azevedo, says the institution has descended into 'paralysis'.
Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Roberto Azevedo, Bali, 2013.
Following the failure to get India to remove its objection to advancing the
Will Ebola take centre stage at the Brisbane G20 Summit?
While the media focus has been on the possible confrontation between Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the upcoming Brisbane G20 Summit, it is the Ebola crisis that may yet take centre stage.
If the virus outbreak continues to confound international efforts over
G20 Brisbane Summit Form Guide: What will make the Summit a success?
In this Lowy Institute Analysis, G20 Studies Centre Director Mike Callaghan examines what outcomes from the Brisbane G20 Summit in November would help reinvigorate the forum and render this year's Summit a success
G20: Cairns meeting had substance, but now we need action
Last weekend's meeting of G20 finance ministers in Cairns achieved more than many other similar G20 meetings. But will it 'change the destiny of the global economy' as claimed by Treasurer Hockey? It could, but only if G20 countries deliver on their good intentions with policy action.
Treasurer
G20 2014: Reform of the international organisations, financial regulation, trade, accountability and anti-corruption
This issue of the G20 Monitor discusses the reform of international economic institutions, financial regulation, and the trade, accountability and anti-corruption agendas at the forthcoming Brisbane G20 Summit. It also provides a summary of the key ideas from the ‘G20 Conference: Strengthening
G20 must save the WTO, among other things...
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)
G20 2014: The G20 Brisbane Summit, inequality, energy and anti-corruption
The 12th edition of the G20 monitor contains an overview from John Lipsky on the G20’s role in global governance after the global financial crisis; a paper by Geoff Weir on the G20, Thomas Piketty, and inequality; thoughts from Hugh Jorgensen and Christian Downie on multilateral energy governance
BNP Paribas fine is G20's dollar dilemma
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
G20: The case for an inclusive growth target
Earlier this year Treasurer Joe Hockey negotiated a significant commitment among G20 Finance Ministers to aim for an additional 2% of global growth over the next five years. As countries develop their action plans for achieving this goal in the lead-up to the next G20 Finance Ministers' meeting in
Time to put security issues on G20 agenda
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
Will Putin go to the Brisbane G20 Summit?
One consequence of the tragedy over MH17, apparently at the hands of Russian-backed separatists, is that it raises the question of whether President Putin should attend the Brisbane G20 Summit in November. Some newspapers are reporting that Australia is threatening to ban Putin.
The predominant
Global financial crisis: Did the system really work?
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
Climate change: The G20 can add value
Yesterday I gave an interview to the Sydney Morning Herald for a story published today: 'Stopping climate change talks "could hurt" G20' (p. 8 in the paper version). Here I want to offer a little more background to the three direct quotes that made it to the final story:
Climate change will be
Infrastructure, tax, energy
This issue of the Monitor focuses on the role of the G20 in infrastructure, tax and energy governance. The Monitor opens with a reflection on a conference jointly hosted by the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Productivity Commission and the Lowy Institute, titled ‘Financial Flows and Infrastructure
Inequality on the G20 agenda? Obama and the Pope would probably support that
Will Prime Minister Abbott be discussing inequality with fellow G20 leaders when they gather in Brisbane this November?
He would if civil society and the labour movement had their way. The C20 (civil society) has 'inclusive growth and employment' as its top priority for the Brisbane summit. The
G20 gives US an ultimatum on IMF reform: But is it a bluff?
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'.
After six months, how is Australia's G20 presidency going?
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet (yet) again in Washington today under the chairmanship of Joe Hockey and Glenn Stevens. This meeting is not getting as much publicity in Australia as the meeting held in Sydney in late February.
Admittedly it is only seven weeks since the
Think20 2014: Progress report on Australia’s G20 presidency
Leading analysts from influential think tanks from 11 countries across the world provide their interim assessment of the Australian G20 presidency in this report. They all participated in last year’s Think20 meeting in Sydney, organised by the Lowy Institute, and are now discussing whether
G20: BRICS muscle up over Russia
The good news is that the odds are clearly in favour of the Brisbane G20 Summit going ahead: Sportsbet is offering $1.05 that the Summit will be held and $8.00 that it won't. The bad news is the fact that odds are being offered at all, even if they are long.
The question mark that has arisen over
Threatening Russia with G20 cold-shoulder won't solve anything, but may hobble G20
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
The challenge of repairing G20
In this article for Nikkei Report, Stephen Grenville outlines the challenges the G20 faces in its reform process.
Good start to G20 but hard road to deliver results
In this opinion piece for The Australian Financial Review, Mike Callaghan argues Australia's chairing of the G20 is off to a good start but there is still a long road to deliver results
China's selective reading of G20 Finance Ministers' recommendations
Finance ministers and central bank governors from countries representing 85% of the world's economic output who gathered in Sydney last weekend agreed to lift their combined five-year GDP forecast by more than 2%. In real terms, the pledge would add US$2 trillion to the world economy.
Reuters,
G20 Sydney Finance Ministers' Meeting: They came, they saw, but did they conquer?
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
Global cooperation among G20 countries: responding to the crisis and restoring growth
At the outbreak of the global financial crisis, 2008, the G20 was widely acknowledged as helping prevent an even more serious decline in the global economy. It helped to calm the panic in financial markets and articulate a set of possible policy options to restore global stability and growth.
Joe Hockey to the G20: 'Do less, focus more, get outcomes'
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
Tony Abbott's G20 vision at Davos: It's a start
On 23 February Prime Minister Abbott delivered a much anticipated speech to World Economic Forum at Davos outlining Australia's vision for the G20. The immediate response on Twitter was largely negative.
Chris Giles from the Financial Times tweeted: 'sign of the times, Rouhani (President of Iran
Australia takes the G20 chair: Now what?
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
Think20 papers 2014: policy recommendations for the Brisbane G20 Summit
On 1 December 2013, Australia began its twelve-month presidency of the G20, a role that will culminate with the chairing of the Brisbane G20 summit, 15-16 November 2014. The ‘Think20’ is a network of think tanks and academics from G20 countries that are working to provide&
With 365 days until the Brisbane summit, Bishop outlines Australia's G20 agenda
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
Thoughts from the 'father of the G20'
Mike Callaghan is Director of the Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin is often referred to as 'the father of the G20’. While Canada’s finance minister, he was the driving force behind the establishment of the G20 and was selected by the G7 in 1999 to
Abbott's chance to seize the G20 lead
In this op-ed for the Business Spectator, Mike Callaghan, Director of the G20 Studies Centre, maps out the priorities for the Australian Prime Minister at the G20 Brisbane Leaders' Summit
The clock is ticking on G20 preparations
In this op-ed for the Australian Financial Review, Director of the G20 Studies Centre, Mike Callaghan, discusses the essential steps the government should take in chairing the G20, including authoring a concept paper and encouraging leader engagement
Playbook for the Brisbane G20 summit
Australia will chair the G20 for 12 months from 1 December 2013. It will be the largest international economic meeting ever held in Australia. This paper outlines the strategy, priorities and steps required for the Brisbane G20 summit to be a success – it is a ‘playbook’ for
Tax, Infrastructure, Anti-Corruption, Energy and the G20
This issue of the Monitor deals with infrastructure financing, combatting tax evasion and avoidance, fighting corruption and global energy governance. The question being explored in each area is ‘where can the G20 add value?'
Bilateral, regional, multilateral: Trade negotiations are warming up
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
US shutdown just the latest G20 headache
Mike Callaghan is Director of the Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre.
When G20 finance ministers meet in Washington, DC at the IMF Annual Meetings on 10-11 October, there will much to discuss and worry about. A glance at the headlines identifies many of the issues that should be on their minds
Judicious ambition: international policy priorities for the new Australian Government
In this new Lowy Institute Analysis, a number of Lowy Institute experts outline what they believe should be some key international priorities for the new Australian Government.
The election's G20 factor
One of the more unanticipated explanations for the Rudd government’s delay in announcing the date of election 2013 is the need to factor in the G20 leaders’ summit on September 5-6 in St Petersburg.
If the G20 is so great, why isn't Rudd going?
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
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