"It Was Human History's Biggest Circle Jerk"

"Posing for pictures was the third leg of the global economic policy stool..."

HANGZHOU, China—China rallied the Group of 20 around a call to use new levers to revive global growth, though the group’s nine-page statement was short on concrete steps and there were few signs that Beijing would lead by example.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said leaders would put in place guidelines on global investment and explore structural overhauls, acknowledging the need for measures beyond low interest rates to prop up the global economy amid growing resentment of globalization’s effects.


Cyclical “Keynesian” policy could never offset a global/national trade imbalance
The Globalization era was characterized by its continual asset bubbles which represented the ever expanding overuse of fiscal and monetary policy on an unprecedented scale to offset the ever-growing effect of imported deflation. Nevertheless, proper implementation of fiscal policy is intended to be counter-cyclical: Running deficits during recessions and surpluses during expansions. No amount of fiscal stimulus can offset a trade imbalance because a Current Account (trade) deficit axiomatically implies a Capital Account Surplus aka. borrowing. Therefore, secular trade imbalances imply continual debt accumulation, and a nation living beyond its means. Moreover, the conjoining of Fiscal and Monetary policy whereby Monetary policy subsidized government deficits, assured that “structural reforms” to fix the underlying trade deficit would be put off as longest as possible aka. Forever. The politicians were given a blank check, and they took it.