Free Market’s FREE FALL!

Although G20 leaders reached a consensus on the global stimulus package, it has received a mixed response. Many believe that it has refused to address the abject failure of neo-liberal capitalism
Sophia Furber London

It was "the day the world came together to fight back against the global recession", in the words of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. While the leaders of the world's most influential 20 economies gathered in London to discuss solutions to the global meltdown, tens of thousands of protestors descended on the capital to vent their anger at the failures of free-market capitalism. London saw some of the largest protests in a generation in the run-up to the summit, culminating in 'Financial Fool's Day' on April 1, when demonstrators brought the financial district to a standstill. After a turbulent week in London, the leaders of the G20 unveiled a $1 trillion package, dubbed "the largest macroeconomic stimulus that the world has ever seen".

The G20 communiqué promised dramatic and sweeping reforms, ranging from the closure of tax havens to the creation of a 'global stability board' to monitor international finance. The IMF has been assured an extra $1 trillion to enable it to bail out struggling economies and to provide $250 billion worth of short-term loans in a bid to stimulate trade. Although G20 leaders managed to reach a consensus on the global stimulus package, the deal has received a mixed response among academics and economists, many of whom believe that it has failed to address the underlying causes of financial crisis. And while G20 leaders have promised that the summit marks a radical shift in the way the world economy is regulated, many of the demands and questions raised by the protestors remain unanswered.

The G20 summit united demonstrators from across the political spectrum, who came together to demand an alternative to unregulated free-market capitalism. The 'Put People First' march held the weekend before the summit was supported by a coalition of over 160 NGOs, religious groups and unions and was joined by over 35,000 demonstrators. Supporters of Oxfam and Action Aid joined forces with smaller organisations such as the Bihar Development Foundation UK, and the Dalit Solidarity Network, while environmental groups such as Climate Change Campaign and Greenpeace were well represented.

Demands were as diverse as the protest groups; some called for 'Jobs not Bombs', others for 'Action on Climate Change' and for 'Money for Need, Not Greed'. Some protestors simply berated the British government and the city financiers that they held responsible for the recession, bearing banners with slogans such as 'Scumbag Millionaires' and 'Hang a Banker'.

Britain, with its high dependency on the financial services industry, has been hit hard by the crisis, and unemployment has reached its highest levels since records began in the 1970s. British comedian and activist Mark Thomas received loud applause during his speech at the rally in Hyde Park, in which he criticised the British government's bailout of banks such as RBS, crippled by exposure to toxic loans. "It's us who have paid for the banks. The government says that they've nationalised them. But we've subsidised them," he told the crowd. Protestors at the 'Put People First' march were broadly united by the demand that the G20 leaders address the issues of 'jobs, justice and climate change' at the summit.