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commentary

Role of the G20

While Europe needs help from the rest of the G20 to build a firewall around Spain and Italy, the G20 is reluctant to pledge money in support of the troubled countries because it sees that Europe hasn’t developed a clear and unified approach to deal with the crisis.

Published on November 23, 2011
Is the G20 doing enough to contain the economic crisis?
No, but this is understandable. While Europe needs help from the rest of the G20 to build a firewall around Spain and Italy, the G20 is reluctant to pledge money in support of the troubled countries because it sees that Europeans are not putting their money where their mouth is. And Europe hasn’t developed a clear and unified approach to deal with the crisis.

The G20 needs to be a part of a comprehensive approach because support for Italy and Spain requires such large amounts of money that the healthy part of the eurozone (mainly Germany at this point) cannot carry the burden on its own in pure economic terms, even if the political stars were aligned.
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