The largest and most powerful international oligarchy met over the weekend.
How large and powerful is this cabal? This consortium accounts for 58 percent of the global net wealth and almost 50 percent of the nominal global gross domestic product. They represent about 10 percent of the world’s population, but in the past that has been 80 percent. Fifty-six percent of global major weapons sales come from this oligarchy.
This group is virtually all Caucasian, European, and its activities are nearly unchecked by anything more than its own “self-regulation.”
In March 1973, US Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz convened an informal gathering of finance ministers from West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom at the White House.
In mid-1973, Shultz proposed the addition of Japan to the original four that agreed. The gathering of financial officials from the US, the UK, West Germany, Japan, and France became the “Group of Five.”
In 1975, France hosted a summit now with the representatives of six governments: France, West Germany, Japan, the UK, the US, and the newly added Italy. US President Gerald Ford wanted an additional English-speaking head of state to be in attendance in 1976. Pierre Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, was invited to join and the group became the Group of Seven.
This past weekend, the heads of state of the G-7 met at a beach resort in Cornwall, UK. Invited guests—although definitely not part of the official leaders’ photograph—included Prime Ministers Scott Morrison of Australia, Narendra Modi of India, and Presidents Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
The agenda included a call for the G-7 to work on a global approach to ensure an equal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. Negotiations over global corporate taxation were on, even as the US threatened tariffs on Europe in retaliation for their new digital sales tax. G-7 finance officials supported the need to regulate digital currencies. And climate change, of course.
But the 800-pound panda at every conversation was China.
“France’s Macron calls for agreement on financial aid to Africa,” as he would like the G-7 to sell its gold reserves to help finance aid for Africa. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will probably be on board since Canada does not have a single ounce of gold. They sold it all in 2016 and now has 18 percent less international reserves than the Philippines.
“Biden urges G-7 leaders to create a unified front to counter China,” and to speak in a single voice against forced labor practices targeting China’s Uyghur Muslims.
China spoke back: “On Thursday, Beijing passed a law designed to counter US and EU sanctions on Chinese officials and companies. Those involved in designing or implementing the sanctions could find themselves denied visas to China. Their property in China may be seized, and any commercial transaction they attempt with a Chinese institution can be blocked.”
Finally, “G-7 rivals China with grand infrastructure plan. Known as the Build Back Better World [B3W] initiative, it provides a transparent infrastructure partnership” and digital technology and gender equity and equality.
No details were mentioned how the plan would work or how much capital it would allocate. As of last year, more than 2,600 projects at a cost of $3.7 trillion were linked to China’s BRI. Maybe the G-7 is going to give its gold to Africa to pay off the loans Africa has taken from China and then the B3W initiative will build the infrastructure for free. Sounds like a win-win for everyone.
Perhaps the G-7 could just send the Philippines a Manager’s Check. For the right price, we can self-identify as “African.”
1 comment
They who think can decide the fate of nations offering both carrots and stick. Condescendingly they treat Asians as mere pawns and never would be allowed to sit as equals in the oligarchic boardroom. Japan is a different matter, a conqueror’s mindset, who has grown big enough to serve as outpost and watchman in the far east after their great debacle in WW2. These people will dine and wine on the backs of the rest of the uninvited, espousing freedom and democracy while selling those sophisticated war materials to decimate and undermine nations that threaten the status quo or extract resources.