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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111200021.html?hpid=topnewsPresident Obama departed Friday from a summit of world leaders here with an agreement that major economies would abide by common standards that could, for example, reverse some of China's export dominance and help put Americans back to work.
But the deal, backed by the United States and adopted by the Group of 20, is not the detailed code of behavior Obama had sought; instead it's a statement of principle. Its impact won't be known until a group of finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund complete what could be months of haggling over the specifics. And if the G-20 meeting proved anything, it is the difficulty of wresting meaningful consensus from nations with increasingly divergent economic interests.
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World leaders in Seoul, in essence, agreed on the need for standards that will help flag trouble spots in the world economy but deferred a more complex debate on the details of these "indicative guidelines." The accord reached in Seoul is "a work in progress," Obama said. His remarks were an acknowledgment of the limits of Washington's influence over a group riven by sharp disagreements, such as those between the United States and export giants such as China and Germany.
By agreeing to set economic standards, the G-20 leaders moved into uncharted waters. The deal rests on the premise that countries will take steps, possibly against their own short-term interests, if their economic policies are at odds with the wider well-being of the world economy. And the leaders are committing to take such steps even before there's an agreement on what criteria would be used to evaluate their policies.
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