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G-20’s Done: Time to Recheck Buy Signals

What French President Nicolas Sarkozy is saying in terms of restraint, and so forth, is relevant, but all the other stuff we're hearing is complete bullshit. This is nonsense.

This is a farce, and it's intended to be a farce. Nothing significant was going to be decided. There will be innuendo and attempts to corrupt the situation as much as possible, especially by the British side. And the British side, as usual, is looking for handouts from everybody else. They want a bail-out.

The British always set these things up: You've got to debate this; you've got to debate that.' It's all bullshit. The British deployment policy is: make sure that nothing works.

I think we ought to express unbridled contempt for such a farce.

Iin the run-up to the Nov. 15 summit of the G-20

* British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told journalists on his flight from London to the U.S., that he expects the summit to support a sharply increased role for the IMF* in global surveillance, a return to the long-stalled Doha round of world free trade talks, and the establishment of a supranational "college of supervisors" to oversee all banks internationally. Brown is scurrying around to impose this agenda, meeting before the summit with Russian President Medvedev, Japanese Prime Minister Aso, and Brazilian President Lula, as well as with Nobel economists Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman. Most significantly, Brown's financial and foreign policy advisers will hold talks with Obama's envoys to the conference, Madeleine Albright and Jim Leach.

* Japanese Prime Minister Aso will call for doubling the current $340 billion in IMF funds, and will offer $100 billion from Japan. The Saudis may also offer to pony up funds for the IMF.

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel will propose increased transparency and controls "for all kinds of financial products," including derivatives, to be managed through an upgraded IMF.

* Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for "greater inclusivity in the international financial system [and] the need to ensure that the growth prospects of the developing countries do not suffer," but he stressed "the need to avoid protectionist tendencies." His Finance Minister P. Chidambaram likewise warned that "the crisis should not be an excuse to go into a protectionist cocoon."

* French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Thursday that "I am leaving for Washington to explain that the dollar... can no longer claim to be the only currency in the world," while the daily Le Figaro warned that "Sarkozy has already planned to create some incidents during the sessions if the U.S. comes out being completely closed off from the European proposals." Sarkozy has also used his position as rotating president of the EU, to get seats at the summit for Spain and Holland.

* Russian President Dmitri Medvedev stated that the summit will be inconclusive, but that he supports holding "without any extra red tape, and fairly soon," a follow-on summit on the financial system. "We need a full-scale, adequate response to the problems, not simply a collection of declarations, handshakes and photo ops, but rather an action plan." After talking about categories like "transparency," "early-warning procedures," and lowering trade barriers, he included something with more potential: "Elimination the imbalance between the volume of the mass of all kinds of various financial instruments that are issued, and the real returns on investment on the programs they are related to." If that point were truthfully pursued, it would lead to the guts of the crisis: the derivatives bubble.

*IMF = International Mother F*ckers

G-20’s Done: Time to Recheck Buy Signals

Aspic used to be a popular dish at parties: pieces of meat, poultry or eggs and vegetables, or fruits, suspended in a jello-like gelatin. This was the Group of 20's final communique today. Many of the government leaders had come to Washington with individual "issues" or slogans. Britain's Gordon Brown sought to bail out London, and screw everyone else, under the slogans of "coordinated fiscal stimulus" and international "colleges of regulators." France's Sarkozy, with much better intentions, sought the closing of offshore unregulated financial centers, and international regulation of derivatives and rating agencies.

What the communique did, after only a five-hour meeting of about thirty delegations, was embed each little, separate slogan or issue in the jello, but only as words, slogans and issues, without commitment or expectation . For example, the communique promises that "we will use fiscal measures to stimulate domestic demand," and then adds "as appropriate." It doesn't say what "colleges of regulators" are, or what powers they will have, if any, but calls on major global banks to meet them for "comprehensive discussions."

Typical are such ringing, inspirational declarations as this one: "Authorities should insure that financial institutions maintain adequate capital in amounts necessary to sustain confidence."

This is all bullshit. There's no seriousness in this piece of disgusting incompetence. They're going to have a great deal of trouble trying to prevent a runaway crash Monday and Tuesday. Because, this bullshit can go on, but it's not something you can sell. They probably will pump up the greatest bloating of the market they ever did. Expect that from them.

The one thing the statement did that was useful, was to pin the crisis on George W. Bush, saying that its "root causes" occurred "earlier this decade," that is, under his Administration - the greatest collapse in history has occurred under George Bush's Administration. This event is the George Bush burial society. It nominates George Bush as the worst President in history, excepting the outright traitors. The collapse is the fruit of a Bush-league President. The idea of this son-of-a-bitch getting encomiums and going out, is disgusting.