Another crisis, another IMF summit: but unlike 2008, the delegates are disunited
When the world’s finance ministers and central bank governors gather at the International Monetary Fund in Washington this week, it may kindle memories of another meeting, also held against the backdrop of a global economic crisis, in autumn 2008.Then, as the aftershocks from the collapse of Lehman Brothers ripped through financial markets, central banks coordinated drastic emergency rate cuts, and the UK chancellor, Alistair Darling, urged his G7 counterparts to emulate the UK’s approach and shore up stricken banks.Policy mistakes, including lax financial regulation, were partly to blame back in 2008 – but as this week’s IMF and World Bank spring meetings convene, the chaos confronting key decision-makers in the global economy has been entirely manufactured in the White House.Donald Trump’s arbitrary “reciprocal” tariffs have been paused for 90 days, with many governments hoping they will never be reinstated.But the 10% across-the-board levy that remains in place – alongside eye-watering increases in tariffs on the US’s great geopolitical rival, China – still represents a historic shock to the global trading system.
The IMF, like just about every other credible economic forecaster, is likely to use its latest World Economic Outlook on Tuesday to warn of the hit to growth.The Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, has already suggested the policy poses “a significant risk to the global outlook”.Given the nature of the crisis, however, a united front, akin to that assembled in 2008, will be impossible.Instead, different G7 economies are all trying to manage Trump’s administration in their own way.The UK government has declined to criticise the White House openly, and is clinging to the shreds of the “special relationship” – negotiating furiously in the hope the tariffs will be lifted.
The EU, facing a 20% levy if the full tariffs are reintroduced, plans to retaliate.Mark Carney, the former Bank of England governor now leading Canada, is taking an aggressive, “elbows up” approach, as he calls it, warning voters in the looming election that the relationship between the two nations is irrevocably damaged.This cacophonous response is part of the chaos Trump appeared to relish unleashing when he brandished his tariffs scorecard in the White House rose garden earlier this month.It is hard to imagine anything but the most anodyne statement being agreed by G7 finance ministers, a group that will include Trump’s treasury secretary, the former hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.As a foretaste of Bessent’s likely approach to his counterparts, he used a meeting with the Spanish economy minister, Carlos Cuerpo, to attack Madrid for failing to spend enough on defence.
And as central bankers consider the outlook for wobbly bond markets and the potential risks to financial stability, meanwhile the independence of Federal Reserve chair, Jay Powell, long a target of Trump’s criticism, appears less than secure.Given the importance of the dollar’s role, the Fed has previously been at the heart of efforts to safeguard the global financial system.It is unclear to what extent they would be ready to play the same role in a future crisis.Gordon Brown, who was central to the global response to the 2008 crash, has called for a “coalition of the willing” to deepen trade ties between countries outside the US and protect the world’s poorest countries from the impact of the policy.In the past, the G7 has sometimes been the locus for such collective action.
But this week’s meeting is happening less than a mile from the White House, where Trump’s trade policy is continuing to evolve, one blustering press conference at a time,Multilateral institutions, such as the IMF and its development-focused sister the World Bank, are also likely to be targets of the Trump administration’s determination to rip up the current world order, and cut funding for any institution that fails to put “America first”,It remains to be seen whether any of the global policymakers assembling in Washington are willing to set out an alternative vision to Trump’s – but even if they don’t, the clash between the US and the rest of the world will be on clear display; and, as in 2008, the omens for the global economy look bleak,
Britain must steel itself for the future | Brief letters
At last, someone who articulates a clear plan for the steel we will need in future (Letters, 15 April). Prof Euan G Nisbet’s plan to keep Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces going for a few more years while Britain’s best brains devise a way to turn iron ore into hi-tech steels provides hope for the breakthroughs needed to guarantee long-term futures for Scunthorpe and Port Talbot, and to meet our net zero ambitions.Jenny RathboneLabour Senedd member for Cardiff Central The buccaneering story of how Scunthorpe’s furnaces were saved is enthralling (British Steel on a razor’s edge: inside Starmer’s Scunthorpe rescue mission, 18 April), but one aspect bothers me. If all the raw materials are imported (coke, iron ore) then what is the gain in supply security – the ostensible justification – over importing steel processed at source, which is surely more efficient?Dr Kimon RoussopoulosCambridge I find that singing the Canadian national anthem at full volume is very effective in stopping people playing music without headphones in public places, if polite requests fail (Letters, 13 April). I’m sure other anthems will suffice
Why the UK’s electricity costs are so high – and what can be done about it
One of Labour’s key election promises was to cut energy bills by £300 a year by 2030 while making Britain a “clean energy superpower”.The job is already halfway complete: renewable energy made up more than half the UK’s electricity for the first time last year. So why does Britain continue to have one of the most expensive electricity markets in the world? Industrial users complain those costs are driving companies out of business and discouraging investment in the UK.The reason behind Britain’s sky-high wholesale energy costs is simple, according to experts. It is down to Britain’s reliance on gas – the price of which was sent soaring by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – in power plants and home heating
Parents must make tough choices on smartphones, says children’s commissioner for England
Parents should be prepared to make difficult decisions over their child’s smartphone usage rather than trying to be their friend, the children’s commissioner for England has said.Dame Rachel de Souza said this should include parents considering the example they are setting their children through their own phone usage.Writing in the Sunday Times, de Souza said that “if we are serious about protecting our children, we have to look at our own behaviour”.She added: “The temptation as a parent to give in to a child’s pleas is a real one. Every parent has been in that position
It’s not too late to stop Trump and the Silicon Valley broligarchy from controlling our lives, but we must act now | Carole Cadwalladr
To walk into the lion’s den once might be considered foolhardy. To do so again after being mauled by the lion? It’s what … ill-advised? Reckless? Suicidal? Six years ago I gave a talk at Ted, the world’s leading technology and ideas conference. It led to a gruelling lawsuit and a series of consequences that reverberate through my life to this day.And last week I returned. To give another talk that would incorporate some of my experience: a Ted Talk about being sued for giving a Ted Talk, and how the lessons I’d learned from surviving all that were a model for surviving “broligarchy” – a concept I first wrote about in the Observer in July last year: the alignment of Silicon Valley and autocracy, and a kind of power the world has never seen before
USA beat Canada in overtime in women’s world ice hockey championship final – as it happened
The player of the tournament is announced, and it’s Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin.So on that note, we’ll sign off. USA-Canada women’s hockey games rarely disappoint, and this one certainly didn’t.PWHL action resumes Saturday. Enjoy
F1: Oscar Piastri wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead drivers’ standings – as it happened
Here’s our initial race report, with Giles Richards’ verdict to come later on. Next up in two weeks’ time, we head to the 305 for the Miami Grand Prix. Thanks for joining me, it was fun. Bye!Lando Norris had a chat with Sky. “It was hot out there,” he says with a smile
British firms urged to hold video or in-person interviews amid North Korea job scam
‘Don’t ask what AI can do for us, ask what it is doing to us’: are ChatGPT and co harming human intelligence?
Italian opposition file complaint over far-right party’s use of ‘racist’ AI images
From Sidemen to MrBeast: how YouTube and its creator economy took over TV
Microsoft faces growing unrest over role in Israel’s war on Gaza: ‘Close to a tipping point’
Opt out: how to protect your data and privacy if you own a Tesla