G20 report offers no solution for detected economic problems


The report published after the G20 summit held in Cairns, Australia, explains the present situation of the global economy in considerable detail, but it does not provide a remedy for it. The report pointed to the fact that unbalanced growth in the global economy continues and the world has displayed the necessary performance to create sufficient employment while the stable growth in developing Asian countries has started to decelerate. Chinese Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei said that economic growth in China, the largest economy in Asia, is facing downward pressure and that there would not be significant changes in politics despite fluctuating economic indicators. China is transitioning into a new growth model which prioritizes technology and the domestic market from the old model based on high labor productivity and export-oriented growth. This transition, as well as being a new state of equilibrium starting from China, is also a development that will bring down China's growth until a new balance is completely settled.I do not know to what extent this matter was addressed at the G20 Summit, however, the G20 ascertained that downside risks and geopolitical stress are escalating in developing countries. The G20 report suggests that it is necessary to make changes in the quality and composition of tax and government spending in order to increase the contribution of financial strategies to growth. It also put forward that investment is of critical importance for increased demand and growth.The report promotes the idea of a global fight against cross-border tax evasion with a tax system that supports elasticity and financial strategies that contribute to growth. It was explained in the report, "In order to analyze the impact of the composition of tax policies and government spending on growth results, we recommend the IMF work cooperatively with other international organizations including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The IMF, World Bank and OECD should cooperate with other relevant international institutions to develop financial instruments that will contribute more to smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and infrastructure projects."For developing countries, these suggestions are only possible by renouncing the Washington Consensus. Of course, transitioning into a SME-based economy with anti- monopolistic regulations essentially contradicts the basic mission of Bretton Woods twins - the IMF and World Bank. In this process, the IMF and World Bank offered a neoliberal, monopolistic and rent-seeking model for Turkey rather than a publicly-supported SME driven economy. Today, developing countries should carve out their own path for development by establishing their own institutions. A while ago, the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) took a step toward founding a development bank. I think this sort of step will gain momentum in the upcoming period. Today, developing countries, which constitute the backbone of the G20, should be freed from the supervision of the Bretton Woods institutions. Furthermore, the entire world economy should get rid of the Bretton Woods monetary system. Trading in international currencies and forming customs unions are important steps toward achieving this.In 2012, Russia and Turkey put forward the project of a joint investment bank. The basic function of this bank would be highlighting trade performed in these countries' national currencies and solving financial resource problems through this bank in order to guard against the risks of reserve currencies such as the dollar and the euro . This process is still ongoing.The Bretton Woods monetary system, which collapsed with the current crisis, used to implement a nation-state hierarchy dominated by the U.S. We now realize that not only the dollar, but also the euro, which emerged with big promises in the early 21st century, is an inevitable consequence of the Bretton Woods monetary system.Finally, we have come to the end of this counterfeiting regime. Even in 1944, British economist John Maynard Keynes acknowledged that this system would not work out and offered an alternative system based on "real" money. "The White Plans" supported by Keynes proposed the establishment of an international clearing union that would somehow assume the role of a global central bank. This union would be charged with performing all commercial transactions using a new unit of account named "bancor," which would be used as an international currency. It would be dependent on gold and national economies. The Gold Standard was a model that responded to the colonial nation-state system. It is obvious that the world will not go back to that arrangement however, the Gold Standard was founded on colonial capitalism, a representative monetary system with a nation-state hierarchy.Thus, clearing unions to be established between countries such as Turkey and Russia, tells us that this may be a transitioning period leading to a single global currency. Turkey and Russia will be the center of reconstruction in the Middle East and Caucasia including global profiles as massive energy transits. Iran's addition to this bilateral union and solving Iraq's domestic crisis will be contingent on these two countries. Shaping the hinterland between Berlin and Beijing into a single market seems inevitable for the future of global capitalism. It would not be wrong to say that monetary unions, trade agreements, multifaceted political integrations and new partnerships will develop on the entirety of this soil.