S5 Ep19: Deep Focus: The G20 in a changing world order

In November 2008, the first G20 summit at the leaders' level took
place amid the global financial crisis. The admittedly ambitious
undertaking has since played its role in stabilising the global
economy throughout the aftershocks of the crash. Today, the
global order looks much different to the one in which the G20
found itself 10 years ago. How has the institution evolved and is
it still equipped to create a supportive political environment
for strong national and global actions?


In this episode of Bruegel's Deep Focus series on 'The Sound of
Economics', Suman Bery reviews the G20's performance over the
past decade to identify the challenges for the future. After the
initial success, he identifies a sense of complacency that has
seemingly crept into the global forum. Moreover, the emerging and
developing economy members have remained observably passive,
which may reflect their discomfort at their perceived systemic
importance despite lower levels of income.


A further challenge for the G20 arises from Donald Trump assuming
the US presidency in 2016, and the following tendency to drift
away from multilateralism in favour of bilateral trade. The
upcoming summit in Buenos Aires may be revealing in terms of just
how much the G20 depends on American leadership. Another question
remains about what potential the EU has as a future leader within
the institution. One thing is certain: to champion a
comprehensive approach, the G20 must conceive a set of rules that
closer reflects the changing world.


For further reading we suggest not only the Policy Contribution
written by Suman Bery – 'The G20 turns ten: what’s past is
prologue' – but also the blog post of Jim O'Neill and Alessio
Terzi, outlining a proposal for a reformation of the G7.