6 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SECURITY
G7 performance on macroeconomic policy
M acroeconomics is a core issue for the G7, which coordinates global policy among seven of the world’s most advanced large economies and the European Union. However, despite strong compliance with macroeconomic policy commitments, G7 policy deliberation and decision making have been gradually declining since the start in 1975. At the 2024 Apulia Summit, G7 leaders should maintain momentum in delivering on their macroeconomic commitments, while increasing their macroeconomic policy deliberations and the number of politically binding decisions that they make on this subject. CONCLUSIONS Since 1975, G7 leaders have devoted 29,846 words, for an average of 12%, to macroeconomic policy in their communiqués. However, this has generally declined over time. In 1975 they devoted 52% of the communiqué to this subject –
the all-time peak. It declined gradually until 1981 and spiked to 48% in 1982, but declined in 1983 and 1984. It spiked again to 33% in 1985, followed by a long decline until 1992. The next spike came in 1993 to 21%, and another in 1998 to 18%. Then came a long decline followed by a spike in 2020 to 30%. Deliberation then dropped to 6% in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Thus, from 1975 to 1982, on average G7 leaders dedicated 32% of their communiqués to macroeconomics. From 1983 to 1993, this dropped to 15%. From 1994 to 2019, it dropped further to 5%. From 2020 to 2023, it rose to a medium level of 12%. COMMITMENTS Between 1975 and 2023, G7 leaders made 328 public, collective, precise, future-oriented, politically binding commitments on macroeconomic policy, as identified by the G7 Research Group. They account for 5% of the 7,223 total commitments. Compared to other subjects, macroeconomic policy ranks 12th among 35 subjects, after development, energy, health, climate change, environment, trade, terrorism, regional security, non- proliferation, and crime and corruption. Decision making on macroeconomic policy passed through two phases. From 1975 to 1987, summits averaged a high 21% of commitments on macroeconomics. From 1987 to 2022, this dropped to a low 5%. However, within this second phase, there were two peaks in performance – the 1993 Tokyo Summit with 17% of its commitments on macroeconomics, and the 2020 virtual summit on the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, which dedicated 32% of its commitments to macroeconomics.
G7 compliance on its macroeconomic
commitments has been strong in recent years, but there is room for improvement – especially in deliberation and decision making – and the leaders can use low-cost accountability measures to achieve higher compliance
By Alissa Wang, senior researcher, G7 Research Group
ALISSA WANG Alissa Wang is a senior researcher with the G7 and G20 Research Groups, based at the University of Toronto. She is pursuing a combined JD/PhD in political science with a focus on international relations and political theory.
www.g7.utoronto.ca
102
G7 ITALY: THE APULIA SUMMIT — 2024
globalgovernanceproject.org
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease