The London Summit has been billed as the defining moment of the global recession. Leaders of the Group of 20 – representing 85 per cent of world output – are coming together to agree policies they hope will restore growth and prevent such a crisis recurring; Barack Obama is making his first big overseas visit as US president; and it is a chance to put international co-operation and the greater good ahead of domestic pressures.
The high hopes were set by Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister and host.
