Anti-international

Every now and then there are moments when nationalisms of various sorts really get in the way. This week,as world leaders prepare to meet at the G-20,is one such moment,when the concerted actions and shared sacrifices the world most needs if it is to escape economic woe on a scale unthought-of since the disastrous 30s seem to be put in peril most of all by governments anxious to please their most vocal,pitchfork-waving domestic constituencies. It would be easy,actually,to dismiss the nationalisms that threaten any putative deal as petty; the tragedy is that probably isnt true. The nationalist impulses that could derail the world are as understandable as ever but deeply misguided for all that.

What is at stake? Well,one casualty is a properly coordinated worldwide fiscal stimulus. The Americans,who announced their stimulus shortly after President Obama took office,are not the worst offenders here,although the original sin in ignoring coordinated international efforts and loosing the protectionist genie from the bottle was theirs. Nor is the UK; Gordon Brown has hopped continents this week arguing for coordinated spending. India and China too have done their part. No,the villains of this piece are the Eurozone countries,convinced as is their famously conservative central bank that little fiscal space is available and that theyre already paying their share. So much so that it is likely that elements in the German government are actively leaking drafts to the media to sabotage any agreement on spending.

This attitude mustnt extend to the other positive task awaiting this conference: ensuring that credit starts flowing again,especially across international borders,especially to the developing world. Or to the negative task: trade barriers,explicit or implicit,shouldnt be put up. But,instead,angry populists in and off the streets will use nationalist rhetoric to constrain government spending from travelling across borders or focus on getting their money back. This is deeply counterproductive: getting money to flow freely is central to swift recovery. Financial nationalism,as many are beginning to call it,will throttle the economies of emerging countries,such as Indias,which the rest of the world requires to be performing. India must continue to articulate its case against such short-sightedness.