national Monetary Fund (IMF) members should rethink the tripling of resources pledged at the April 2, 2009, G-20 summit and instead ensure that IMF resources are large enough to deal with severe crises, but not too large to waste resources, lead to poor decisions, and even cause crises. At present, there does not seem to be sufficient evidence that the IMF requires more resources. ~ John B. Taylor
The interconnected nature of politics, economics, security, and energy is reflected in the fact that the G-20 agenda now reaches far beyond economic policy. Authors of essays in this report suggest combining new and existing institutional mechanisms to address this convergence. • The fundamental problem inhibiting growth in developing countries lies in institutional structures of government and the incentives leaders have to attain and retain positions of power. The G-20 can help influence economic growth in developing economies by fashioning assistance programs that channel financial support and expertise to governments that are likely to convert the G-20’s help into effective policies rather than into opportunities for kleptocracy or leader-controlled experiments in policy selection. ~ Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
• Already the G-20 has moved beyond economic issues to touch on energy security and climate change; it could continue to evolve into a kind of informal global steering group, brokering deals at the political level and then referring the actual negotiations to established forums. It is not a perfect grouping because it leaves many countries unrepresented, but it could play a useful role in conjunction with the UN, IFIs, and other existing institutions in fashioning a ‘global grand bargain’ among the major powers, representing collectively some 85 percent of global economic activity, energy consumption, and greenhousegas emissions. ~ Robert Hutchings
• Governments and independent organizations seeking to promote better governance must focus on altering incentives, and not simply providing money or building state capacity. One way to alter incentives is through foreign assistance with ex-post conditionality; political leaders must implement reforms before they receive foreign aid. Donors may also be able to change the incentives facing leaders in poorly governed states by providing assistance to public and private organizations that might be able to check and balance centralized state power. ~ Stephen D. Krasner •
• Restoring confidence is a crucial step in repairing financial markets and setting the global economy on a sustained growth path. The willingness of governments to coordinate their policies can help reestablish confidence by ruling out beggar-thy-neighbor responses to the crisis. A joint international commitment to maintain open markets for goods and services must be a central feature of governments’ policy actions. Pooling of resources is an important way of ensuring the effective-
At the international level, the Inter-
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