In this edition: signal; system insights; what I’m reading; and one last thing.
Signal
The West Still Coordinates
This week in Paris, G7 finance ministers, their central bank governors, leaders of key international financial institutions, and other guests met in the G7 multilateral format amid significant challenges to the international system, including rising concerns about global economic imbalances, public debt, and bond market volatility, as the impact of geopolitical events reverberates throughout the international economy.
The gathering, hosted by France, comes ahead of next month’s G7 leaders’ summit in Evian and on the back of last week’s high-profile but inconclusive summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Ahead of the meeting, French officials were reported to have succinctly framed the economic pattern:
China overproduces, the United States overconsumes, and Europe underinvests.