Geithner Fumbles The G20

Simon Johnson judges the G-20 meeting that took place over the weekend:

There was no substantial progress on any policies that will help pull us out of a severe recession. The U.S. made a tactical mistake of pushing for a uniform two percent fiscal stimulus across the G20; not even the IMF is arguing for something so unrealistic. The Europeans were easily able to fight this off, pointing out that their stronger social safety nets mean they automatically stabilize their economies in ways that the United States can only do through discretionary fiscal packages.