Meetings of the finance ministers and central bank government of the group of seven leading high-income countries have appeared increasingly irrelevant in our world of new powers. But that is no longer true. For it is in the sophisticated financial systems of the advanced economies that the havoc began. How well, then, is the G7 doing? The answer: it talks better than it acts.

The communiqué is replete with self-congratulation, notably on actions taken to “stabilise extremely volatile financial markets”, on reductions in policy interest rates and on fiscal packages. It reaffirms opposition to “disorderly movements in exchange rates” and “protectionist measures”. It calls, yet again, for “a quick and ambitious conclusion of the Doha round” of trade negotiations and stresses the “need to support emerging and developing countries’ access to trade and credit financing”.