The Governance Response to the Great Recession: The "Success" of the G20

Since its upgrading to heads of government level in late 2008, the G20 claims to be the steering committee for the world economy. It claims three specific big successes: stronger international financial regulation, including the Basel 3 Capital Accord; more effective macroeconomic coordination; and governance reforms of the Bretton Woods organizations. This paper challenges all three claims, but concentrates on the Basel 3 Accord. The modesty of the achievement leaves the world vulnerable to more multi-country financial crises, and testifies to the ineffectiveness of the G20 as presently constituted.