The writer is a former UK prime minister
It is often said that there are two kinds of finance ministers: those who fail and those who get out just in time. And, in my experience, what most often brings ministers down is the unexpected; those things you omit to plan for that leave you struggling to keep up with events.
Predictably, the crowded agenda of today’s first G20 finance ministers meeting under Indonesia’s presidency will cover most aspects of our unbalanced global recovery and our ever more fragile geopolitics: the fallout from Ukraine, not least on energy supplies, unexpectedly high inflation, rising protectionism and a downgrading on likely growth, as well as the future of sanctions, given the Afghan famine.