To be sure, whatever common ground was staked out still seems rather sprawling. Leaders agreed to sweeping plans on financial regulation, but the details remain conveniently nebulous. Disagreement remains about relative priorities: France wants to regulate hedge funds, while Britain, home to most of Europe's hedge fund industry, talks more about cracking down on tax havens. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who hosted the meeting, insisted that discussions focus on long-term financial reform rather than co-ordinating short-term responses to the crisis. It is tempting to remind the chancellor of Keynes' maxim that we are all dead in the long run.
誠然，無論此次峰會形成了何種共同立場，它們仍顯得相當雜亂。各國領導人就金融監管的總體計劃達成了一致意見，但細節的實用性上仍有些含糊不清。在相對優先任務方面，各方仍存在分歧：法國希望監管對沖基金，而作為歐洲大部分對沖基金總部所在地的英國，談論更多的則是如何打擊避稅天堂。主持此次會議的德國總理安吉拉?默克爾(Angela Merkel)堅稱，大家討論的重點應該是長期的金融改革，而不是協調對危機的短期應對。我們忍不住想用凱恩斯的一句格言提醒默克爾總理：長期而言，我們都會死亡。