home > think tank > center for geoeconomic studies > Essential Documents > G20 Leaders Statement at Pittsburgh Summit: Bold and Coordinated Actions From Crisis To Recovery
Email
Published September 25, 2009
At the time of the last G-20 Summit in April, the world appeared potentially on the brink of depression. To prevent that from happening, the G-20 Leaders came together in London and pledged to do whatever it took to restore confidence, growth and jobs.
The forceful response of the G-20 has worked. Their bold, coordinated action to jumpstart recovery and repair the financial system have started to yield concrete results for families, businesses and the most vulnerable individuals and governments. Based on International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates, the actions G-20 nations have taken since the London Summit will have saved or created over 7 – 11 million jobs by the end of 2009. The President’s Council of Economic Advisors has reported that implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has already saved or created over 1 million jobs in the United States. While there is much more that needs to be done to restore jobs, confidence and growth, the G- 20’s actions have clearly halted a sharp fall in economic activity and laid the basis for a recovery.
GDP: At the time of the last G-20 meeting, real GDP had fallen 7.4% (at an annual rate) in the first quarter of 2009 in G-20 economies. Leading up to the Pittsburgh Summit, real GDP rose 1.8% in the second quarter. In the U.S., the first quarter real GDP decline of 6.4% (at an annual rate) slowed to a 1.0% decline in the second quarter. The Blue Chip Economic Indicators September survey forecasts a 3% GDP growth rate in the third quarter.
Jobs: In the three months leading up to the London Summit, the unemployment rate across the G-20 had increased 0.9 percentage points. It had increased 1.3 percentage points in the United States. In the United States, as in many other countries, unemployment is still unacceptably high. But it is not rising as fast as it was prior to the April summit. The most recent data shows that the unemployment rate increased by a much slower 0.3 percentage points over the past three months in both the G-20 at large and the United States.
Financial Markets: A key indicator of the risk of long-term lending to emerging markets, EMBI, has fallen by close to half, with the premium emerging markets pay to borrow dropping from 6.44% on the eve of the London summit to around 3.3%. The cost of insuring against the default on banks’ long-term debt has fallen by more than half, and the interest rate banks have to pay to borrow short-term funds (Libor) is down even more. The Case-Shiller home price index in the United States increased 1.3% following the London Summit, compared to a 7% decline prior to the Summit.
Consumer Confidence: In the United States, a leading consumer confidence index rose to over 54 in August from the 26.9 reported in March by the Conference Board. A survey of G-20 nation consumer confidence surveys has found that consumer confidence has risen since the lowest point reported during the crisis in all thirteen countries with comparable data.
Exports: In March of 2009, G-20 goods exports were 10.7% lower than in December of 2008 – a pace of decline that if sustained, implied a 36% annual fall. In the most recent data (July), G- 20 goods exports were 9.6% higher than in April. That strong turnaround is mirrored in the United States. In March, goods and services exports were 7.5% lower than in December 2008. In July, goods and services exports were 5.8% higher than 3 months earlier.
Essential Documents are vital primary sources underpinning the foreign policy debate.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.