Well, what has this G20 left as a gift to the world beside some frantic whirling around Greece and Italy? What has it left us, the citizens of a globalized planet with no global leadership? Nothing. Scan the pages of the G20 report (particularly point 16 and onwards) to read with your own eyes.

If Europe’s leadership has been nihil (how much had the French and others worked to lure emerging countries to support the euro? I doubt they did enough if I look at the results) I am also startled by the lack of Obama’s presence. He was everywhere and nowhere. With a stubborn unemployment rate at 9% when it should have been according to plan at 6% and a re-election bid coming fast at him, I don’t like reading on the New York Times about war scenarios in the Middle  East. I am reminded of a favorite of mine:

“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.” Ernest Hemingway, War Notes, September 1935.