G20: Don't cry for me Argentina
By: Beatrice E. Rangel - 27/11/2024
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The Group of 20, which actually has 19 members, met in Brazil from 19 to 20 November. The G20 was established in 1999 in response to several global economic crises. G20 members represent 85% of the world's GDP, 75% of international trade and 56% of the world's population. The G20's main objectives include: international financial stability, climate change mitigation and sustainable development.
In the context of this meeting, Brazilian President Luiz Innacio Da Silva proposed the creation of a global fund with contributions from the members of the group, the aim of which would be to alleviate extreme poverty. The proposal was rejected by Argentina, thus blocking the consensus necessary for the project to take off.
Argentina's position has been widely criticized in the economic media. However, none of the critics have thoroughly studied the proposal or the sources of Argentina's rejection. If they had, they would come to the conclusion that the proposal is nonsense and Argentina's rejection is not only appropriate but sets a limit to the disorderly development of one of the most efficient mechanisms of international coordination.
The G20's purpose is to prevent the spread of economic or financial imbalances in one country to the rest of the world economy. It is also its role to harmonize fiscal and trade policies to prevent the development of tax havens and avoid trade wars.
The fight against poverty, however, does not belong to the international dimension. On the contrary, it is a task of strictly domestic order that can be facilitated or hindered by the action of other countries but never promoted by them. Because at bottom the fight against poverty is a fight for the freedom of each individual. Poverty goes hand in hand with servitude, whether economic, institutional or cultural. Because when a human being is free - unless he is a psychopath, as there are some - his mission in life is to achieve personal well-being and that of his family.
And in this search for well-being, he raises the living conditions of those around him. Obviously, in addition to being free, he needs to be educated and healthy. But beyond these demands for services, free human beings create well-being. Hence, the most significant thing is the effort that a society as a whole makes to guarantee the freedom of its members and the education and health of all.
The creation of an international fund to combat poverty therefore makes no sense at all, and what would be important would be for the G20 to establish a catalogue of public policies under which freedom flourishes and, consequently, the creation of wealth, which is the most effective formula for eradicating poverty. Creating such a fund would not only distort the mission of the G20 but would also lead it to suffer from the Peter principle. This would emulate the degenerative path of the United Nations, an organization created to prevent conflicts, aggregate interests and ensure peace. But the number of tasks imposed on the United Nations that have no relation to its mission has led the organization to a rapid degenerative process.
Argentina's rejection of Lula's proposal marks the beginning of a reversal of the process of weakening the G20 due to functional embolism.
«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».