These familiar G7 statements come, however, at a time when many economic initiatives at the country level are accompanied by calls to ensure that the measures serve only the citizens of the implementing nation. These protectionist pressures are likely to mount as unemployment rises.
The rhetoric of the G7 must be followed by concrete actions. We face the most serious economic and financial crisis in my more than 50 years of banking. As one strives to find comparisons, we are forced back to the 1930s to a period where depression conditions spawned “beggar thy neighbour” trade protectionist approaches that not only failed to secure economic recovery, butsimultaneously created extraordinary tensions in international relations.
The lessons of the 1930s led to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which evolved into the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and later the regional development banks. We need to use these institutions to the fullest, starting with three urgent actions that can contribute to recovery, build confidence and strengthen international co-operation.