ONCE again the great and the good of the industrialised globe gather for a talk-fest to put the economic world into shape.
Concurrent meetings of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations and the International Monetary Fund will discuss at length the perilous state of the dollar, the impact of the surging yen on Japan's nascent recovery and the febrile state of the European exchange rate mechanism.
The US has shown a marked reluctance this year to support the greenback, partly because it does not want to unsettle its own economy and partly because a weak currency drives up exports and helps tackle trade imbalances, particularly with Japan.
But the underlying question is whether anything can, or should, be done to correct the currency disparity.
Time and again governments have tried to buck the markets and time and again they have failed - spectacularly.
It is a safe bet to assume the closest the G7 will come to direct action will be issuing a communique stressing the need for currency stability.
