Endorsement of minimal financial regulation and an informal agreement to disagree over the stimulus question are likely to be the vapid results of this latest summit of the world’s so-called powerhouse economies. But the structural fissures of global capital have become too great to be papered over by the G20 in Toronto.
The Group of Eight (G8) has frequently come under attack for being an archaic institution that doesn’t represent the current configuration of global political and economic influence. These criticisms have intensified with the rise of the Group of 20 (G20) financial summit as the major vehicle for responding to the global financial crisis.
As the rich Group of 8 (G8) nations convene in L’Aquila, Italy this week, world hunger will once again take center stage. The United States will likely announce a “significant” increase in funding for agricultural development aid, along with multi-year commitments from other G8 countries. This follows the G8’s admission of failure in tackling hunger at its first-ever farm conference in Treviso, Italy in April 2009.