by David Adelman

Created on: May 19, 2009

The London Summit 2009

The G-20 is an informal forum that promotes open and constructive discussion between industrial and emerging -market countries on key issues related to global economic stability. By contributing to the strengthening of the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies , international co-operation, and international financial institutions, the G-20 helps to support growth and development across the globe ( www.g20.org). The G-20 Leaders' Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy was held in London on April 2, 2009 and attended by heads of state from the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G-20), plus some regional and international organisations attended. For Prime Minister Stephen Harper, this G-20 Summit was another opportunity to "slay the protectionist dragon" (http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.

com/ rss/article/661750). Since coming to office three years ago, Harper has pursued a policy of bilateral free trade agreements. Historically, Canada has long pursued a vision of continental free trade from the time of John A. MacDonald. Brian Mulroney fought and won the election of 1988 as a referendum on free trade. Harper has been extremely concerned that with the recession, countries would retreat from free trade to protectionism.

In 2008, all the candidates for the Untied States presidency promised an end to free trade and a return to protectionism. As a Senator, Obama opposed the Central American and Peru free trade agreements, both of which eventually passed Congress and was opposed to free trade pacts with Colombia and South Korea. Obama has always believed that free trade has been responsible for the increase in job outsourcing and that American workers need to be protected from world competition. Many believed that an Obama Presidency might be more protectionist than any since World War II. Every administration since Herbert Hoover has expanded free trade. Hoover's Smoot-Hawley Tariff was instrumental in causing the Great Depression. Tariffs are punitive. Free trade means workers buy goods for less money, especially low-income workers who shop at Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and the like. If we cut off free trade, the already strapped working class will be faced with higher prices. So protectionists like Obama advocate higher prices without saying so. One study

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