OECD Head Angel Gurria (2006-2016) to EuroFora on Global Economic Governance Network, G8-G20+Growth

 

Speaking  to "EuroFora" on the sidelines of CoE's Global Annual Economic Debates in Strasbourg, the experienced Head of the biggest Economic Organization in the World, the enlarging OECD, who has just been re-elected for 5 more Years (2011-2016), Angel Gurria, outlined his vision for Global Governance organisation and for the way out of the Global Crisis :

- "We are going to be Growing", and get "Out of the Recession, OK", OECD's Secretary General stressed from the outset, both for €uroZone and World's Economy, before dealing with the two most crucial Questions currently raised, which are the way that a New Global Economic Governance could be practically organized, and how to absorb Unemployment fast enough :

-------------------------------------

 On the first point, Angel Gurria replied to an "EuroFora" question on the prospects for OECD's role in the present trend towards a Global Economic Governance, particularly since 2007 G8 Heads of State/Government Summit at Heiligendam (Germany), where it had been officially suggested for OECD to start helping the implementation of several G8 decisions, by observing, that, meanwhile, the Global context has "evolved since Heiligendam" :

- In particular,  "the G-8 (initially unique format) has evolved....into a G-8 doing mostly Security, Strategic and some Development issues", while, "now, Economic, Trade and Financial issues are going into the G-20+", he pointed out.

-" So" that, recently,  "there have been some Proposals to create a Secretariat for the G-20+, but I don't think that there is any Consesus for that" yet, he estimated.

- In consequence, "My Proposal is that we should create a closer, tighter Network of International Organisations, that would serve as a Support to the Country that is Hosting" the rotating Annual G8 - G20+ Chairmanship, he suggested.

- "And this is an idea that (German Chancellor) Angie Merkel is also proposing : We (OECD) have met with her several times to talk about this", Angel Gurria revealed.

Speaking later at CoE Assembly's Annual debate on OECD's forecasts for the International Economy, he presented his main Conclusion on "what we have learned from the (Global) Crisis", by strongly endorsing a message jointly supported by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angie Merkel as well as other EU or Foreign Countries' Leaders (Comp. "EuroFora"'s NewsReports as early as since the beginning of 2009 from a Sarkozy-Merkel sponsored International Conference on the "Need for a New Global Governance"), that, in fact, the 2008 USA-triggered Financial Crisis was "a Massive Failure of Regulators", so that, now, a kind of Global Economic Governance would have to be collectively worked out, in one way or another.

- Thus, "an important conclusion that I draw from the crisis", is that, "as (German Chancellor) Angie Merkel says :  - "Get together and Coordinate, speak in 1 Voice on certain Issues, in a sort of Cross-Fertilization process, and, then, you'll be more timely, accurate and powerful, nobody could ignore you" , observed OECD's Head, in reply to an earlier observation by German MEP Erich Georg Fritz on what he called "the G8 initiative on Closer economic Co-operation between Countries – the Merkel initiative".

- "We (OECD) have been pushing for that. I call it the creation of an "Observatory for Policy Coherence" : "Not a new Bureaucracy, or a new institution", but "simply, a much better Co-ordination among the International Organisations ...already participating" in Global Economic Governance issues, Angel Gurria reiterated.

While Merkel explicitly supported these days also Sarkozy's proposal to fight against Speculation on Raw Materials, from Agriculture and Food, up to Energy and Industry, during the forthcoming Annual Presidency of the G-8 and G-20+ by France, (November 2010 - November 2011), on the contrary, Gurria didn't comment a complementary proposal by CoE Assembly's vice-President, Head of the Greek Delegation, and experienced former Chairman of PACE's Economic Committee,  MEP Costas Vrettos, speaking on behalf of the Socialist Group, to create a kind of "New International body, a kind of Court in order to Monitor all these New Legislation" about Global Economic Governance, as he said in substance.

---------------

    - On the second point, that of Return to Growth, Angel Gurria, speaking to "EuroFora" at first specifically about the €uro area, estimated that, although you already have "a Good Performance in some €uroZone Countries, such as Germany etc.,in order to have a better "2nd half of the Year" 2010, "probably, some of the Monetary Policy Accomodation will, perhaps, stay a little bit longer, and, may be, the beginning of the Fiscal consolidation in some Countries could be delayed" a little bit, "until the Growth is more established", as he advised.

    - "We are going to be Growing", and get "Out of the Recession, OK", OECD's Head confirmed.

    - But, "in general (i.e. on the Global Economy), we (OECD) see a Middle-Term Scenario of relatively Low Growth and High Unemployment and High Deficits, in OECD in general", he warned.

 - "The problem is that (Growth) is gonna be Slow, and the Unemployment is not gonna be absorbed" fast enough, "so you are going to see Relatively High levels of Unemployment for a Long period", he estimated.

- "This is very Typical, and Not Surprising", particularly "when you have a very Steep, but also very Fast drop Employment", back "on 2008-2009, then, Recovering is always very Slow", he observed, saying that this forecast was based also on Historic Experiences, f.ex. "in the Other Cycles also in the Past", as he explained.  - "Without exception, if there is a very Deep Drop, in a relatively Short Period of Time, thenn it took Longer to Recover in Pre-Crisis levels".

- Persistently questioned by "EuroFora", in concrete terms, "How Long, approximatively, at least in the Past ?", Gurria replied - "I don't know" exactly, but "this has taken 5, 6 or 7 Years in the Past to Recover the level" that existed before a Crisis, as he calculated. - "So, this (2010+) is not going to be an Exceptional point", but rather a well known phenomenon, according to OECD's Head.

- That's why, "we are going to need Good Structural Policies in order to be able get out of this kind of mediocre scenario", he advised. Because, in front of such challenges, "you can Improve things by Structural Policies : " For that purpose, "then, you gave to get Back to the Fundamentals :"  I.e. "Education, Research and Development ; Labor Market (reforms) ;   Markets ; "Competition" ; "Innovation" and "Green Growth", (etc).  

 Angel Gurria remained steadily upbeat on "Green Growth"s potential, since the last we had seen him :  - "We (OECD) have got a Mandate on Green Growth, since May 2010 and  "we shall publish a Final Report" on the (forthcoming) May (2011) Ministerial Summit" in Paris' OECD's Headquarters, Angel Gurria anounced to "EuroFora".

- "It's the only way to go : It's desirable", because "it's Good for the Environment, it's also Good for the Budget(s) to have Low Carbon energy, i.e. Not subsidizing the consumption of Fossil Fuels ; and it's also Good for Business, because you can create New Technologies and New Jobs", he pleaded.

That's one reason more for OECD's Chief to be present at the forthcoming UNO's Climate Change Summit at Cancun, Mexico, in view of which, "we are working hard with the Mexicans to produce a Report on Cities, as well as about Financing the Effort against Climate Change" : "The differend Instruments for Funding", "looking at the Modalities, because there are differend ways of Financing", and "How you can reduce the Cost, encouraging everybody to participate, so that it becomes the Low-Cost Alternative", etc. : I.e. one of the most thorny but also "Key"-issues, as Copenhagen UNO's Climate Change Summit revealed , (Comp. "EuroFora"'s NewsReports from Copenhagen, December 2009).

- "Our (OECD's) Conclusions, of course, is that you have to have a Price on Emisssions, on Carbon (CO2) : "We need, absolutely, a Price for Carbon". Because, "without a Price for Carbion, you can't get any result". We need a "Carbon Price", "whether you have a Tax, or whether you have a permit for Selling of Emission Rights, like an Auction, etc".

Finally, questioned by "EuroFora" on the Economic significance of some Scientists' claims that "Carbon could become itself a source of Energy", (comp. f.ex. Professor Amouroux's INTW with "EuroFora", already sent in DraftNews to Subscribers/Donors), Angel Gurria didn't deviate at all from where he was heading for :

 - "We (OECD) have to advice on the most important Technological issues that we have to work on, and especialy on Technology of Carbon Capture and Storage : If you can succeed there, then, you can see what you can do with Carbon ! But first you have to avoid it from going up" to the Atmosphere.. he smiled,  pragmatically open to any eventual future innovation....