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G20 In-class Assignment

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Introduction

What is the G-20? The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to

bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in

the global economy. The inaugural meeting of the G-20 took place in Berlin, on December 15-16, 1999,

hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers.

Mandate 

The G-20 is the premier forum for our international economic development that promotes open and

constructive discussion between industrial and emerging-market countries on key issues related to

global economic stability. By contributing to the strengthening of the international financial architecture

and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and

international financial institutions, the G-20 helps to support growth and development across the globe.

Latest Summit

The 2010 G-20 Toronto summit was the fourth meeting of the G-20 heads of government, in discussion

of the global financial system and the world economy, which took place at the Metro Toronto

Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during June 26 –27, 2010. The summit's priorities

included evaluating

  the progress of financial reform

  developing sustainable stimulus measures

  debating global bank tax

  promoting open markets. 

Prime minister Stephen Harper said the theme of the Toronto summit would be "recovery and new

beginnings," An Integrated Security Unit, consisting of police officers from different regional

departments, was formed to provide security during the summit in Downtown Toronto, where the

venue was located. The event was part of the largest and most expensive security operation in Canadian

history. The total cost for preparations, including security, infrastructure, and hospitality, was

determined to be approximately C$858 million.

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What is Canada’s Future of the G20? 

Canada needs to be concerned with tis place in the global market. Canada is a very small player in the

comparison to the other g20 population and gdps. Canada's role will become smaller over time. There is

talk among other countries that Canada should be replaced in the g8 and placed as a second-teir countryin the g20. Canada also hosted the 2000 and 2001 g20 meetings in montreal and ottawa respectvily, and

the 2010 g20 meeting in toront.

Arguments in support of the G20

1. The G8/20 proliferates war. 

Some might say that the G20 could properly be called an international arms dealers summit. The

Canada Peace Alliance notes that G20 countries are “responsible for more than 85 per cent of global

military spending and 95 per cent of global arms production.” This amount is quite significant which upts

a huge responsibility on nations involved.

According to Foreign Policy in Focus, five G20 countries (the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and

South Korea) spent nearly $1 trillion in 2008 on the military but “for about one-tenth of this . . .we can

achieve more genuine security by eliminating global starvation and malnutrition, educating every child

on earth, making clean water and sanitation accessible for all, and reversing the global spread of AIDS

and malaria.” 

At home, meanwhile, the Harper government has committed Canada to spending $490 billion on the

military over the next 20 years. Think of that when you are told that there is not enough money around

to fund your parents’ and grandparents’ pensions. The consequence of these military build-ups is,

predictably, death. To give just two recent examples: the New America Foundation notes that 871

Pakistanis were killed by American drones in Barack Obama’s first sixteen months as President; and in

June 2009, NATO bombed civilian houses in Afghanistan’s Farah province killing more than 100

people. If citizens of Western countries were killed at this rate we’d call it terrorism. 

2.The G8/20 deepens poverty. 

The G8/G20 decides the policies of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund

(IMF). Under the guise of debt relief, these institutions provide loans to the Global South with

conditions attached that, in collaboration with local elites, force these states to limit spending on healthand education, to weaken labour and environmental laws, to produce cheap export goods for the Global

North, to flood their own markets with goods from the North that make local production unprofitable,

and to allow international corporations privileged access to national wealth.

This is done because it supposedly produces economic growth in the developing world. Yet the

economist Mark Weisbrot points out that over a twenty year period “of IMF and WB-directed reforms,

the vast majority of low-and-middle-income countries have suffered a drastic slowdown in economic

growth.” 

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Specific examples of the consequences of IMF and WB “reforms” are outlined in Mike Davis’

masterpiece Planet of Slums, including: Ivory Coast, where urban poverty doubled in just two years;

Nigeria, where extreme poverty went from 28 percent in 1980 to 66 percent in 1996; Mexico, where the

percentage of the population living in extreme poverty rose from 16 percent in 1992 to 28 percent in

1999.

The UN’s Human Development Report 2004 notes that, in an era characterized by the implementation

of WB and IMF prescriptions, “an unprecedented number of countries saw development slide

backwards. In 46 countries people are poorer today than in 1990. In 25 countries more people are

hungry today than a decade ago.”

Why would G8/20 leaders advocate such policies?

Because their result is that the world’s poorest nations end up subsidizing the richest. Professor David

Harvey points out that from 1980-2007 $4.6 trillion was transferred from the Global South to the

Global North. (Keep this in mind whenever some condescending politician in the developed world brags

about how much “aid” his or her nation sends to less developed countries.) Many in the Global North

world who are unemployed, haemorrhaging student debt and/or are appalled by the federal

government’s withdrawal of funding from the First Nations University of Canada might well wonder

what happens to all the money the G8/20 obtains via grand larceny.

3.The G8/20 is undemocratic. 

Reasons one and two are among the best arguments I can think of for economic democracy and

community self-management. The G20, however, is wildly undemocratic. The summit’s webpage notes

that “Although participation in the meetings is reserved for members, the public is informed about what

was discussed and agreed immediately after the meeting of ministers and governors has ended.” In

other words, the meetings are held in secret and once our sage mandarins have decided what is best for

us they will tell us what they think we ought to know.

While G20 governance over the Global North is undemocratic, its rule over the Global South is

downright neo-colonial. Though the G20 does include a few less developed countries, unlike the G8, the

Alberta Council for Global Cooperation notes that “the G20 functions mostly as a sounding board” forthe G8 and “does little to alter the elite nature of the G8.” This is what plutocracy looks like.

There are many equally important reasons to protest the summit that I haven’t mentioned so I’d

encourage everybody to investigate the relationship between G20 policies and issues such as

environmental degradation, First Nations sovereignty and global gender inequity.

I encourage everyone to visit the website of The Toronto Community Mobilization Network (TCMN)* for

details on demonstration times and locations and to come on out. We have a world to win.

*I am based in Guelph, Ontario, where I do most of my activism, and should note that I am not directly

affiliated with the TCMN and do not speak on their behalf.

Pasted from <http://www.g20breakdown.com/g20-background/3reasonsprotestg20/> 

My Opinions

I think that the G20 is an unnecessary event, do the negatives outweighing the positives of this event.

We do not need vast and large amounts of money being put towards unnecessary events ($1 trillion

collectively), which could be money being put towards prevention of diseases, stopping malnutrition,

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providing education, and stopping aids. Also the taxpayer’s money is being put on security, which is just

a waste. This event is also highly undemocratic. If you go on the g20 website it says, “Although

participation in the meetings is reserved for members, the public is informed about what was discussed

and agreed immediately after the meeting of ministers and governors has ended.” This doesn’t seem

fair that only the leaders of these countries and generating ideas and making policy without the input of 

their citizens. These type of big budget event hinders economies growth. Specific examples of the

consequences of IMF and WB “reforms” are outlined in Mike Davis’ masterpiece Planet of Slums,

including: Ivory Coast, where urban poverty doubled in just two years; Nigeria, where extreme poverty

went from 28 percent in 1980 to 66 percent in 1996; Mexico, where the percentage of the population

living in extreme poverty rose from 16 percent in 1992 to 28 percent in 1999. All in all I find these events

unnecessary, and the money being put towards these events should be allocated to more beneficial

causes.

Sourceshttp://www.g20.org/about_what_is_g20.aspx 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_G-20_Toronto_summit 

IB textbook

http://www.g20breakdown.com/g20-background/3reasonsprotestg20/