Obama’s call for unity is a concession to the G20 refuseniks

Uh-oh.  Reading the FT’s Big Interview with Barack Obama (text here, audio here), it sounds as though the US president has given up on a meaningful “global grand bargain” being reached at the London Summit.  Sure, he doesn’t quite say it in those words.  In fact, he bandies about terms like “significant progress,” and calls for a “strong message of unity,” as politicians are wont to do.  But the signs are still there, particularly when he talks about a “fiscal stimulus”:

“What I have consistently argued is that what is needed is a ‘both and approach’. We need stimulus and we need regulation. We need to deal with the problems right in front of us and we also need to make sure we’re taking steps to prevent these types of breakdowns from happening again.

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Ross Clark

Britain is living beyond its means

With respect to the stimulus, there is going to be an accord that G20 countries will do what is necessary to promote growth and trade.