G20 Members to Work Toward Jobs and Stimulus -- Maybe

The Joint G20 Finance and Labour Ministers’ Meeting gathered in Russia recently. The most important statement by the group indicated that first among the priorities of the G20 is new stimulus programs aimed at taming unemployment. However, nothing about the stated plans involved any specifics, which has become a regular part of comments made by both major governments and organizations like the International Monetary Fund that band them together.

The statement of the G20 included this:

The focus of the meeting was the possibility of elaborating coordinated policy by finance and labour and employment ministries in the G20 countries to promote strong, sustainable and balanced growth and a supportive environment for job creation.

The discussion was structured around the two interrelated topics, namely, governments’ role in creating incentives and eliminating barriers to investment in job creation, and cost effective social policies to facilitate job creation and inclusive societies.

The “coordinated policy” part of the plans have not worked in the past. The primary economic plans of the nations are too far from one and other and often compete. The interest of Russia often are different from those of Europe, and joint efforts to add jobs, if one nation has to help the other in that regard is very unlikely.

“Cost effective” in another phrase that does not carry any weight. It implies that most of the nations in the G20 have the wherewithal to invest in programs that create jobs. The is not true for almost every one of the G20 nations that have to wrestle with slow growth an rising national deficits like the rest of the world does.