What happens when you sit down 20 of the most powerful men in the world in a conference room? Musical Chairs maybe? Do these leaders discuss how important it is to begin getting rectal exams to check for colon cancer because “they are at that age” now? What kind of idle chatter goes on during downtime? Hopefully, when you dump the magnificent 20 into the conference room, you get some results. The G20 Summit Meeting has been the big headline in international news (American News Outlets are currently more interested in the Blago 19 Count Indictment, standard fare for a media group more interested in bizarre and narcissistic personalities than important news). But even before the event took place, big things were poppin’ off over in Merry Ol’ London Town. Violent rioting broke out in Central London yesterday. The mob broke down police barricades, and destroyed bank property on its march. One man even died. Fast forward to today, where apparently things were all smiles after the meeting of the “Group of 20″ concluded. Emerging from the battle triumphant was President Obama, who faced his first real international test amongst a group of his international peers on his first trip to Europe as the American President. Even Sarkozy, the French President who was clamoring for change and threatened to leave his seat if certain things didn’t go his way, applauded Obama at the end of the day. Okay, so what does this all mean now? The group has already declared the meeting a roaring success, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been talking of some plan they have to beat back this recession/depression.

This plan of theirs consists of spending $1.1 trillion to combat the global recession, $250 billion of which is coming out of something called “Special Drawing Rights.” Said the New York Times: “The Group of 20 pledged to triple the resources of the Fund to $750 billion — through a mix of $500 billion in loans from countries, and a one-time issuance of $250 billion in Special Drawing Rights, the synthetic currency of the Fund, which will be parceled out to all its 185 members.” This magical currency will be issued to assist developing countries weather the storm that is currently pounding the developed world. One of the major issues addressed at the meeting was how to assist those nations who were not fully developed and thus relied heavily upon the westernized nations for support. This was their answer. With the IMF’s proven track record, I am sure that this will work out just as they plan.For the countries that are soon to be bailed out by the IMF through the G20 funding, just be prepared to be bombarded with “advice” on how to run your financial policy. Oh, non-compliance really isn’t an option by the way.

Other agreements include “strict new regulations on hedge funds and rating agencies, as well as a crackdown on tax havens, which will be publicly named and subject to sanctions if they do not agree to share tax information with the authorities of other countries” said British PM Gordon Brown. The tax shelter issue was one of the final ones remaining unresolved near the end of the day, but President Obama helped Hu Jintao and Nikolas Sarkozy come to an agreement. Obama should have simply let the two gentlement slug it out and engage in fisticuffs. Winner take all, right? I mean, that’s how reality works. Plus, who wouldn’t enjoy watching a fight break out on camera at the G20? You know what? How about establishing a tournament bracket with one competitor from each country in the world, 1 on 1 cage match, and the tournament advances up to the top 20 slots. There you have it. Your Group of 20. The selection process for the G20 right now is a bit more exclusive, typically limited to Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. I think opening up the field could be advantageous to fostering a greater variety of ideas and opinions. I doubt any of the G20 would agree.

-J Boogie [TLL]