From BBC News Online

France will walk away from this week's G20 summit if its demands for stricter financial regulation are not met, the finance minister has told the BBC.

Christine Lagarde told Hardtalk that President Nicolas Sarkozy would not sign any agreement if he felt "the deliverables are not there".

Strengthening financial regulation will be one of the key issues at the G20.

France wants a stronger global financial regulator than the US and the UK would like.

If France were to leave the summit, it would be a blow to both UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama.

Both men have spoken of their high hopes for the meeting to stimulate international recovery.

"Leaders meeting in London must supply the oxygen of confidence to today's global economy and give people in all of our countries renewed hope for the future," Mr Brown said.

The U.S. is only going to see the French as blaming it for starting the worldwide economic crisis, which it did.  One more reason to hate the French over here.
::)

For all its hype, I can't see this summit making much difference in the great scheme of things...

Goodness knows what all this is costing just to host the bloody thing! And the objective was to 'solve' a global economic crisis...oh, right!  ::)

Wow...  Good call France.  I don't think they'll make a difference, but I definitely admire them for trying.

The U.S. is only going to see the French as blaming it for starting the worldwide economic crisis, which it did.  One more reason to hate the French over here.
::)


We already have plenty of reasons to hate the French.  Not the least of which was the Renault Le Car.

;D

The demonstrators are due to arrive in central London at 11am (GMT)

Sarkozy has more of an eye on the local politics than the world's economy... so, nothing new there.  Just as long as he doesn't try the typical French "get what we want or riot" sort of behaviour.

Thing is, he's not wrong, in that it *was* the "Anglo-Saxon" short-term-profit-driven model that caused the over-inflated perception of value, leading to the crash when people realized that what they had wasn't worth what they thought.. but that doesn't mean what he is demanding is the right answer, and threatening to flounce out if he doesn't get his way is more than a little bit counter-productive.

We already have plenty of reasons to hate the French.  Not the least of which was the Renault Le Car.

;D


Jean: So, what we call this piece of sh*t Fronsh car to sell stupid Americans.
Pierre: I know, how about ve call eet "Le Car"!
Renault execs in unison: Honh honh honh honh!

Those of us old enough to remember a certain food processor brand from the '70s:

How do you get five elephants into Le Car?
Le Machine!
:-\\

Demonstrators have gathered near the G20 summit venue in London's docklands for a second day of protests.

Several hundred staged "noisy but calm" protests on various issues near the ExCel centre

Obama claims the differences between the various positions are not as great as reported.

Demonstrators have gathered near the G20 summit venue in London's docklands for a second day of protests.

Several hundred staged "noisy but calm" protests on various issues near the ExCel centre



As opposed to yesterday, when they acted like complete dicks and vandalized whatever was about.

As opposed to yesterday, when they acted like complete dicks and vandalized whatever was about.
That is right.

Sadly a protestor did die yesterday.

Sadly a protestor did die yesterday.
It turns out, this man who died was a resident on his way home in the area and not a demonstrator.

http://wonkette.com/tag/pt-buy-up-ameros/

ohoh!  :o

Barack Obama’s goofy, hated British squire Gordon Brown gave a speech earlier as host of the G20 conference, which is already basically over. Boo! He mentioned that since all countries are screwed, because they’re connected, because of globalization, they have all agreed to kick in a few bucks for loans and sheesh. But then he said, “a New World Order is emerging.” OH NOES. There are already 10 million versions of this clip on YouTube. “we are freaking screwed,” writes YouTube user “spydat3k.”

Alright...  I'll come clean guys.

I'm not really a Libertarian with a capital L -- I'm a civil libertarian for the most part, which is why I'm about to propose something entirely against Libertarian principles.

What every developed country needs is a central government bank.  We've tried the corporate route of creating money through lending and interest, but it's pretty obvious that has failed with the advent of Enron style greed.

We need to go back to the old system where governments are the only ones allowed to create money, so the Fed Reserve has to go, and all of its international equivalents should also be disbanded.

If banking was more directly subject to the will of the people, it wouldn't engage in so much speculation and leveraging.

Alright...  I'll come clean guys.

I'm not really a Libertarian with a capital L -- I'm a civil libertarian for the most part, which is why I'm about to propose something entirely against Libertarian principles.

What every developed country needs is a central government bank.  We've tried the corporate route of creating money through lending and interest, but it's pretty obvious that has failed with the advent of Enron style greed.

We need to go back to the old system where governments are the only ones allowed to create money, so the Fed Reserve has to go, and all of its international equivalents should also be disbanded.

If banking was more directly subject to the will of the people, it wouldn't engage in so much speculation and leveraging.


:o

If banking was more directly subject to the will of the people, it wouldn't engage in so much speculation and leveraging.

If banking was directly subject to the will of the people, you'd see hyperinflation within days.  The overwhelming majority of people really don't have a clue (and a large minority, if not a majority of the people making the decisions aren't a huge amount better).

But the Federal Reserve IS a gov't bank!!!???

Alright...  I'll come clean guys.

I'm not really a Libertarian with a capital L -- I'm a civil libertarian for the most part, which is why I'm about to propose something entirely against Libertarian principles.

What every developed country needs is a central government bank.  We've tried the corporate route of creating money through lending and interest, but it's pretty obvious that has failed with the advent of Enron style greed.

We need to go back to the old system where governments are the only ones allowed to create money, so the Fed Reserve has to go, and all of its international equivalents should also be disbanded.

If banking was more directly subject to the will of the people, it wouldn't engage in so much speculation and leveraging.
actually isn't this what ron paul is proposing? an end to fiat currency and a return to the gold standard? sounds like libertarianism to me, and to tell you the truth, it's one aspect of libertarianism that appeals to me. i think i've just watched "zeitgeist addendum" like 20 times and a big part of our current problem seems to be usury and irresponsible financial speculation. tying currency to something tangible would put an end to all that, i suppose, although i have to admit i've been going through a bit of a crash course on economics lately. i'm a lover, not a financier.

But the Federal Reserve IS a gov't bank!!!???
apparently not. treasury is a federal department but the FR is a private institution. i was surprised recently to learn this.

The U.S. is only going to see the French as blaming it for starting the worldwide economic crisis, which it did.

I'm not sure that it's fair for the French to blame the United States for the current financial crisis. Yes, the problem might have started in the US with the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, but European banks did their part to contribute by engaging in the same reckless lending and speculation practices that banks in the United States did. Just as in the US, many banks in France and other European countries have had to be bailed out or nationalized by their governments in order to avoid their collapse.

In France, for instance, the government spent 10.5 billion Euros last year to bail out six of its largest banks:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/21/europe-imf-bailout

If banking was directly subject to the will of the people, you'd see hyperinflation within days.  The overwhelming majority of people really don't have a clue (and a large minority, if not a majority of the people making the decisions aren't a huge amount better).


Disbanding the public central bank we used to have actually caused hyperinflation.

It was known as the Panic of 1837.

But the Federal Reserve IS a gov't bank!!!???


Actually... no.  It's a government sanctioned consortium of private banks that have governmental powers.  You can think of them as a middle man between the Treasury and the private market.

If we got rid of it and brought back a purely governmental central bank, interest rates would be more stable, and leveraging would be more reasonable.

actually isn't this what ron paul is proposing? an end to fiat currency and a return to the gold standard? sounds like libertarianism to me, and to tell you the truth, it's one aspect of libertarianism that appeals to me. i think i've just watched "zeitgeist addendum" like 20 times and a big part of our current problem seems to be usury and irresponsible financial speculation. tying currency to something tangible would put an end to all that, i suppose, although i have to admit i've been going through a bit of a crash course on economics lately. i'm a lover, not a financier.


The key difference between my proposal and Paul's is that Paul doesn't want anything in place to replace the Fed with.  His solution involves letting the market completely clear things by itself, although the Gold Standard would be the only governmental connection.

My proposal would involve making most lending a governmental sector.  Only investment banks like Goldman Sachs would be private.

In short, stable banking for the average person would be government run, but all risky investment activity would be private and done with the understanding that no bailouts would come their way in the event of a crisis.

I suppose that last bit still is Libertarianism.

actually isn't this what ron paul is proposing? an end to fiat currency and a return to the gold standard?


If we did that now it would make the Great Depression look like a Sunday school picnic!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/peepwall.gif

It turns out, this man who died was a resident on his way home in the area and not a demonstrator.
With a second post mortem now taken place. The findings showed that he did not die from a heart attack and the police officer is being interviewed on suspicion of manslaughter after fresh tests find Ian Tomlinson died from abdominal bleeding.