Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
Philip Stephens: Summit success reflects a different global landscape
The US president has grasped that if America is to hold on to its pre-eminent role in the world it will be within a system in which others have a stake. Mr Obama shows wisdom beyond his years in realising that to understand the extent of US power — and it is still unrivalled — a president must also map its limits.
What the French revolution can teach America
Dominique Moïsi, a visiting professor at Harvard University and author of the forthcoming The Geopolitics of Emotion, writes: As a European living in America — watching news on television every night, talking to friends, colleagues or my students — I sense fear, anger and a deep feeling of injustice reminiscent of the climate on the eve of the French revolution.
Martin Wolf: Credibility is key to policy success
In his Budget, the chancellor of the exchequer should lay out fiscal measures to go into effect, automatically, once the economy recovers. In short, what is needed is a far more credible fiscal regime.
Obama’s message on security should be candid
George Robertson, former secretary-general of Nato from 1999-2003 and British defence secretary from 1997-1999, writes: With the rare backdrop of European goodwill that has been largely absent for a US president since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Mr Obama’s message to Europe should be candid and sharp.
Analysis: Bank regulation needs straightening out
Peter Thal Larsen writes that central to the G20 summit of industrialised and developing countries will be the question of whether the chaotic system of finance that swept the globe over the past two decades can be controlled.
Editorial comment: The first bricks in a new world order
The world is better for having held this summit. The possibility of dangerous contagion is lower and useful progress has been made across a range of issues, from the need to keep trade free to IMF quota reform.
Lex on buying bad assets
Of course, kickstarting the market for these assets so that all banks benefit is not an unfortunate side-effect; it is the aim of the plan. A certain incestuousness is unavoidable.
Insight: Zombie curse of Europe’s CLOs
Gillian Tett writes: Now it seems that the zombie curse is threatening to appear in Europe too. In recent months, investors and policy makers alike have devoted huge attention to tackling the problem of toxic mortgage debt.