Recession is coming, give up

THE annual hoopla surrounding the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank is over at last.

Once again the leading lights of the political and financial world have gathered together to discuss the state of the global economy. Once again they met against the backdrop of crisis and turmoil. And once again they have signally failed to provide the kind of clear leadership and positive plan of action to steer the global economy clear of the rocks of recession.

While it would take an extreme optimist to imagine that leaders of 182 countries would arrive at a common solution to the world's wide-ranging problems, that is precisely what was needed.

At last year's meeting in Hong Kong the financial turmoil at the centre of the talks had only surfaced in the emerging economies of Asia. Not surprising then that the policy-makers of the West should have lacked the necessary focus to tackle the problem head on.

But as the Asian contagion spread, taking hold first of Russia and then drifting West towards the American backyard of Latin America, it has become patently clear that the stability of the Western economies is also at threat.

With that spectre hanging over them, a sense of urgency should have prompted the resolve to act.