Think20 papers 2014: policy recommendations for the Brisbane G20 Summit

On 1 December 2013, Australia began its twelve-month presidency of the G20, a role that will culminate with the chairing of the Brisbane G20 summit, 15-16 November 2014. The ‘Think20’ is a network of think tanks and academics from G20 countries that are working to provide an important analytical input into the G20 process.

The first Think20 meeting was held under the Mexican G20 presidency in 2012, the second under the Russian G20 presidency in 2013. With support from the Australian government, the first Think20 meeting under Australia’s G20 presidency will take place on 11 December 2013.

Participants in the December meeting have authored a paper on one (or more) of the following four themes, that make up this collection: 

• The G20 economic/finance process
• Trade liberalisation 
• Financing for investment/infrastructure 
• Development. 

Each author was asked to identify, in their chosen area, specific actions and achievable outcomes that the G20 should pursue in 2014.

A catalog of the papers by author can be found below, hosted online by the Lowy Institute.*

A discussion on these policy recommendations will take place at the 11 December Think20 meeting, the outcome of which will be submitted to G20 Sherpas. It is hoped that Think20 participants will maintain an on-going dialogue on the issues contained below throughout 2014 and beyond.

*Four papers included below are not contained within the Think20 Papers 2014 PDF, these are Christophe Destais' 'The international monetary system as a swap nexus', Karel Lannoo's 'The G20, five years on', David Shorr, Drew Kodjak and Sheila Watson's 'Global Fuel Economy Initiative' and Joshua Busby's 'The G20 and Climate change – beyond goal-setting at Brisbane'.

 

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Overview

• Mike Callaghan, Policy proposals for the Brisbane G20 Summit.

The G20 economic/finance process

• Mustafa Alani, Sustainable growth and the stability of oil prices – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s objectives. 
• Colin I. Bradford, Global rebalancing, financial risk assessment and the G20.
• Mike Callaghan, The Brisbane Summit needs to deliver a G20 coordinated growth strategy.
• Mike Callaghan, Introducing a forward-looking component to the G20 leaders’ agenda.
• Lucas Chancel, Post-growth societies for the 21st century.
• Christophe Destais, The international monetary system as a swap nexus.
• Katharina Gnath and Claudia Schmucker, Strengthening the peer review of the G20 Mutual Assessment Process.
• Karel Lannoo, The G20, five years on.
• Stephen Pickford, G20 economic priorities for 2014: reforming the MAP.
• Guven Sak, A more inclusive G20 economic policy coordination mechanism is possible.
• José Siaba Serrate, The threats of transition, and the need to speed up the building of a robust market infrastructure.
• Pavel Trunin, The macroeconomic development of, and prospects for, the G20 countries.
• David Vines, The G20 MAP, fiscal austerity and financing for investment.
• Ye Yu, G20’s three steps towards strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the world economy.

 

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Trade liberalisation

• Alan S. Alexandroff, The fear of fragmentation.
• Peter Draper, Strengthening global trade liberalisation: enhancing the G20’s role.
• Shinichi Kitajima, Toward more open international trade: the G20’s responsibility.
• Ivan T.M. Oliveira, The G20 trade agenda: proposals for the Australian presidency.
• Andrés Rozental, Near future for international trade: who’s behind the wheel – the WTO or regional trade agreements?
• Yong Wang, The G20’s role in addressing the WTO’s predicament: seeking political compromise and strengthening the multilateral trading system.

 

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Financing for investment/infrastructure

• Robert J. Bianchi and Michael E. Drew, Financing infrastructure investment: old roads and new paths?
• Chijioke Oji and Catherine Grant Makokera, Financing for investment in Africa: a role for the G20.
• Sarp Kalkan, Connectivity matters for the G20.
• Daniela Strube, A 7-point plan for the G20 infrastructure financing agenda.
• Maria Monica Wihardja, Infrastructure development: the role of East Asian regional institutions in managing capital flows through financial deepening.

 

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Development

• Joshua Busby, The G20 and climate change – beyond goal-setting at Brisbane.
• Barry Carin, The G20 and development.
• Susan Harris Rimmer, The G20 and its outreach: new measures of accountability, legitimacy and success.
• Hugh Jorgensen, The G20, climate financing and the UNFCCC COP21 meeting in Paris.
• John Kirton, Advancing accountability for development and growth.
• Drew Kodjak, David Shorr and Sheila Watson, G-20 action on vehicle efficiency and emissions.
• Marina Larionova, Strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth — a cornerstone of development.
• Wonhyuk Lim, The development agenda for the Brisbane G20 Summit.