This week's G20 summit is in danger of over-promising and under-delivering - but it is still worth watching for any initiatives to kick-start global trade, says Julian Jessop at Capital Economics.
He points out that hopes for a co-ordinated global fiscal stimulus have been undermined by the unwillingness of several European countries to commit more money.
"They believe additional stimulus is unaffordable and might create another unsustainable boom, especially in the absence of further financial reform," Mr Jessop says. "However, this stance might at least help to ease the issuance worries hanging over government bond markets."
But he also notes there is little agreement on ways to reform the global financial system either - raising the risk of populist measures that are either irrelevant or actually counter-productive.
"The former could include tighter regulation of hedge funds, while the latter might mean bans on short-selling and excessive regulation of bankers' pay."
However, he says one area that is highly appropriate for a global forum would be measures to kick-start world trade.
"Trade has already fallen by as much as 40 per cent on some measures, pointing to additional factors beyond the weakness of final demand. The prime suspect is a temporary shortage of trade finance.
"Measures to restore the flow of trade finance might therefore result in a partial recovery in world trade, even before the global economy itself picks up."
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
