G-20 Summit: So Sorry, Sarkozy

Three developments I monitored closely this month--my health check-up, the U.S. presidential elections, and the G-20 Summit. My health check-up is a semi-annual routine which was prescribed for me after I underwent a medical procedure in 2006. As for the recent elections, though I'm not an American, I eagerly awaited the outcome because Mr. Obama's vision of change captured my imagination. And the G-20 Summit? Well, I simply wanted to see who would surprise me more--President George W. Bush or French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Actually, for a lameduck president, Mr. Bush exceeded my expectations, in the sense of not putting his successor-in-waiting in a difficult bind when Mr. Obama attends the next conference in April 2009, judging from the Summit Declaration issued on Nov. 15 (complete text available here). To cite an example: I read the "commitment to free market principles" in Paragraph 12 of the Declaration, which I've quoted below, as a victory for Mr. Bush (he has repeatedly voiced this prior to the summit) and an important legacy to Mr. Obama who will inherit this unfinished business, although there are obvious concessions on "regulated financial systems," to probably make the wording win-win for everyone:

12. We recognize that these reforms will only be successful if grounded in a commitment to free market principles, including the rule of law, respect for private property, open trade and investment, competitive markets, and efficient, effectively regulated financial systems.

Europe, led by Mr. Sarkozy who took over the European Union's rotating presidency last July, apparently underestimated the resolve of a U.S. badly distracted by a worsening economy and nervous financial markets, and polarized by a closely contested presidential election. Of Mr. Sarkozy, Jon Vinocur wrote this in the International Herald Tribune:

His attempt to take advantage of the presidential interregnum in the United States and turn a meeting on global economic misery into a new world financial charter bearing his imprint just didn't happen.

Yes, the inclusion of Russia, China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia to the classic Western lineup of economic overseers was universally welcomed, although Sarkozy himself called the detailed results "not very glamorous."

I'm reminded of a yellowing piece of paper which was salvaged from the first Anglo-American discussions leading to the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement, which was found in the personal papers at Princeton of Harry Dexter White, the lead U.S. negotiator, opposite Britain's Lord Maynard Keynes. The note said:

In Washington Lord Halifax once whisphered to Lord Keynes:
"It's true they have the money bags but we have the brains."

No offense meant, but just between us, guys, I think Bush had neither of both when he went to the G-20 Summit and yet he won the day. So sorry, Sarkozy. That says a lot about you.

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