The London G20 Summit is now history and by many accounts, it was a success for the U.S., with new initiatives made with Russia, China, and a new collaborative style of U.S. diplomacy on display by President Obama and his team of advisors. The summit’s concluding statement has been archived on the G20 website here and the AP has posted the highlights here, while Bloomberg has a great recap of the new finance regulations. The leaders agreed to expand the funds available to the IMF to help struggling economies, to crack down on tax havens and hedge funds, and to reject protectionism. The leaders failed to agree on a coordinated global stimulus plan to boost the world economy, with rifts appearing between those countries who wanted more stimulus spending and those that felt current efforts were adequate. The G20 countries will meet again at the U.N. in September to review the progress they have made on ending the global financial crisis.
