G-8 Summit Is More Talk Than Action

ByJohn S. McClenahen The just-concluded G-8 meeting in Evian, France was more notable for the hopes expressed by the leaders of the U.S. and seven other industrialized countries than by any breakthrough agreement. For example, the G-8 summiteers communicated confidence in the growth potentials of their economies and reaffirmed their commitment to completing the current Doha Round of world trade negotiations by Jan. 1, 2005. But both goals will be tough to achieve. For example, the U.S. economy, the world's largest, continues to grow far below its potential. And a long-running dispute between the U.S. and the 15-nation European Union over agricultural subsidies threatens to sidetrack agreements on other trade issues, including tariff reductions and intellectual property protection.