Barbara wrote:Can you provide a link?
Reasons to be hopeful
Reasons to be skeptical
Issues
Debt Relief?
Rich country farm subsidies?
Top developing countries will be present
Climate Change
US Attempting to Water Down Climate Action, Again?
Diverting Attention—and Blame—to India and China, Again?
Developing Countries Already Doing A Lot
More Information
The US and the four largest economies in Asia are to voice "serious concerns" over "unprecedented" oil prices, a day after a record one-day jump.
In a statement to be issued after G8 talks, the five countries will say prices pose a great burden, especially on developing countries, AFP reported.
The statement, to be signed by energy ministers from the US, Japan, China and South Korea and a senior Indian official, is expected to say that price rises are "against the interest of both consuming and producing countries".
It will also say that "phased and gradual" withdrawal of price subsidies - blamed by some for fuelling demand in emerging economies - is "desirable", AFP reported.
Both the Indian and Malaysian governments have raised fuel prices in order to cut the subsidies they provide.
"It's a shock, but if you look at the rate of oil production globally, it has been 85 million barrels a day for three years in a row," Mr Bodman said ahead of the G8 talks.
"We know demand is increasing because a lot of nations are still subsidising oil, which ought to stop," he said.
A subsidy makes a product cheaper but --> it costs taxes --> taxes reduce society's disposable income --> economic contractionDantesPeak wrote:Korea significantly increased subsidies for oil products today.
Reducing taxes --> increase society's disposable income --> but loss tax revenue == budget deficits --> increase inflation --> reduce society's ability to buy --> economic contractionDantesPeak wrote:Individuals states in India are reducing energy taxes today also. I expect individual US states to also reduce energy taxes this summer, and it also possible federal taxes could be reduced too.
Government is impotent. It does not matter whether option 1 or option 2 is taken --> end result is --> economic contractionDantesPeak wrote:Everything possible is being done to maintain and even increase demand.
Bush's Dollar Drop Maps Loss of U.S. Clout at Final G-8 Summit
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- When President George W. Bush went to his first Group of Eight summit in 2001, a dominant issue was the dollar -- the strong dollar, that is. The U.S. currency was on a record-setting streak, and the free-marketeering president wasn't going to stand in the way. {what a contrast after 7 years of Reagan/Bush II voodoo economics...}
On the eve of Bush's last G-8 appearance, the dollar's gyrations are again in the crossfire. This time, it is a weak currency, upended by slumping growth, a housing recession and record gas prices, that is gnawing away at the world economy.
The dollar's 41 percent drop against the euro during Bush's term writes the economic epitaph of an administration that set out to restore American preeminence. Instead, Bush heads to Japan next week for his final international summit with diminished leverage as Russian and Chinese influence grows.
Price Surge
G-8 finance ministers last month identified surging commodities prices as a bigger threat than the credit squeeze to the world economy. Prices for 19 commodities in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index rose 29 percent in the first half, the most since 1973. Rice, corn and wheat futures have all touched records this year.
Sagging faith in the dollar -- it now makes up 63 percent of global currency reserves, down from 71 percent when Bush took office -- complicates efforts to tame commodity prices because they are primarily denominated in the U.S. currency.
America's dependence on imported capital to finance a $9.5 trillion debt -- up from $5.7 trillion when Bush took office -- has driven down the currency. The decline was accelerated by the subprime crisis that plunged the U.S. into an economic tailspin.
``If Bush could get others at the G-8 summit to demand a stronger dollar he'd have done a final good after a lot of negatives over the years,'' said Uwe von Parpart, chief Asia strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald LP in Hong Kong. ``Dollar strengthening appears to be the only thing capable of containing or pushing back oil prices.''
Speaking at the White House yesterday, Bush tried to give the markets a nudge: ``We're strong dollar people in this administration and have always been for the strong dollar.''
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