G-20 nations pledge to deal with debt

Dick Taffe — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:43:09 +0000

The Group of 20 industrialized nations wrapped up their meeting in Toronto promising to have their government deficits by 2013 and “stabilize” debt loads by 2016, signaling to domestic political audiences and international markets that they’re serious about reducing stimulus spending. But economics Professor Laurence Kotlikoff, author of “Jimmy Stewart is Dead” about the future of the banking industry, says the G-20 missed the mark by not focusing on the critical future problems of paying pensions and health care benefits.

“Had the G-20 agreed to do long-term fiscal gap accounting and to develop policies that eliminated those fiscal gaps, it would have done something real. What’s it’s really done is agreed to delay making the critical policy changes needed to avoid insolvency.”

Contact Laurence Kotlikoff, 617-353-4002, kotlikoff@bu.edu

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G-20 nations pledge to deal with debt