Summit Puts Off Thorniest Questions Until Next Year

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 15, 2008 10:48 PM CST
Summit Puts Off Thorniest Questions Until Next Year
President Bush, center, sits at the G20 ministerial meeting at the International Monetary Fund Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 in Washington.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Today's summit of world leaders may have found broad agreement on the need for bold reform of the global markets, but it left the toughest decisions to future meetings, the Wall Street Journal reports. The broad strokes include greater oversight of banks and credit-rating agencies, a review of executive pay, and tighter control of complex financial derivatives. But the "devil is in the details," warned one economist, who predicted "arduous" progress as each nation follows its own agenda.

Though the leaders crowed of ambitious moves, much of what surfaced simply articulated what countries already were doing, the New York Times notes. It's still unclear just how radical any regulatory overhaul will be, and much will depend on the actions of Barack Obama's administration. The next summit is April 30, about 100 days into his term. Obama himself didn't attend, but his representatives, Madeline Albright and Jim Leach, made the rounds and deemed the session "constructive."
(More G20 stories.)

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