The capitalist mea culpa

If the G-20 April meeting in London could be summarized in two words, they are regulation and internationalization. “Major failures in financial regulation and supervision were fundamental causes of the crisis,” stated the G-20’s final communiqué, which promised to build “a stronger, more globally consistent, supervisory and regulatory framework.” A key element of that framework will be the establishment of a new global watchdog, the Financial Stability Board, which is to closely cooperate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The latter, in turn, has been bolstered by a major cash injection. While the G-20 summit was arguably not the “new Bretton Woods,” as some politicians euphorically claimed, it did change its tune. “We are for open economies and open markets, but open economies and open markets have to respect some rules,” said European Commission President Jose Manuel Baroso. According to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the world had turned the page