G-20 to Lend $1 Trillion to IMF, World Bank

A bank doesn’t necessarily have to be corrupt and insolvent to receive government money these days: G-20 leaders pledged $1.1 trillion in financing today to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and “declared a crackdown on tax havens and hedge funds,” according to the Associated Press The latter measure, which will create a supervisory body to monitor the global financial system, was immediately seized as a victory by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "There were moments of tension," Sarkozy said. "Never would we have thought to get as big an agreement." Angela Merkel of Germany, meanwhile, called it “a very ,very good, almost historic compromise.” There was, however, no progress on Barack Obama’s and Gordon Brown’s number one priority: international stimulus spending.