US President George W. Bush waves goodbye to journalists after Washington Financial Summit leaders (G20) discussed consequences of the global financial crisis, Nov. 15, 2008. A3464 Rainer Jensen/ Press Association. All rights reserved.
November 2008 was notable not only for the potentially game-changing midterm congressional elections: it also marked the 10th anniversary of a momentous G20 meeting on November 15, in Washington DC. The global significance of each can hardly be underestimated, not least because both shared hallmarks of myopia and miscommunication, and their ruinous consequences.
Signalling the severity of a global financial crisis that was fast becoming a global economic one, the 2008 summit comprised for the first time in the group’s history, the leaders of the G20 nations. But with the finance horse well and truly bolted, expectations were low that the world’s most powerful leaders would be able to find the stable door let alone shut it.
