Humanity has outsmarted itself. With its ingenuity, this tribal ape has created a world its tribalism cannot manage. Intellectually, we know this: it is why we created institutions like the UN, the IMF and the G20. But we do not know it in our bones. In our bones, we know that each tribe is out for itself and the devil take the hindmost. In our bones, we think people who feel otherwise are “globalists”, which is synonymous with “traitors”.
We meet, fail and promise to do better next time. But then we fail again. We do not fail altogether. But we fail on the big things. It is not good enough. We know that. But the knowledge is not enough.
That is the story of last weekend’s meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Venice, a glorious city sinking under rising seas. The G20 contains 63 per cent of the world’s people and 87 per cent of its output (at market prices). It contains the world’s most powerful countries and ones from every continent. It is our best chance for global economic governance. (See charts.)