CALAMITY is when you get to know your true friends. And these are the worst of calamitous economic times in nearly a century. So it must be quite an opportunity for the leaders of the G20 and key emerging economies invited to the global financial crisis summit called by US President Bush on Nov. 15, to figure out what remains of time-tested friendships and wisen up to what new alliances could mean. No doubt desperation will make the strangest bedfellows as the invitees attempt to form new economic partnerships to wean their countries away from a life-support system of central banks making huge liquidity infusions into markets and possibly bleeding to death in the process. But only prudence in the re-evaluation and re-structuring of alliances will strengthen the foundation of a new global economic architecture that must rise from the ruins of a world suddenly gone by, where unregulated capitalism was made sacrosanct with America as its sanctimonious sage. Against this backdrop, what can Bush ever bring to the table to ease global fears 11 whole days past his presidential shelf life? Why should the world not look elsewhere for hope in Barak Obama or John McCain champing at the bit to move into the White House? Even if Bush rightfully chooses to gloss over what he and his country have wrought on the world and get on with the more urgent business of addressing the global crisis, there will be no escaping the reality of America's diminished brand equity today. America, as the citadel of capitalism, is all but dead. And Brand America as the mighty purveyor of freedom – as in Afghanistan and Iraq – appears doomed as well. Analysts say the summit is Bush's last attempt to redeem himself. No doubt it's a laudable endeavor but it's also certainly one that a world gone bust can ill-afford. The extent of the global crisis is still only being unravelled and markets have not bottomed out. Though valuations are becoming increasingly attractive, credit remains scarce from justifiable fears that global recession is real, allowing no scope for any sustainable rebound. Economies everywhere are contracting. Growth is history. Yet Bush, who personifies all that has gone wrong with America's credibility abroad, outcast by even McCain in his presidential campaign, is not. And the world must suffer his last stand on Nov. 15 for the cause of clearing up the mess he leaves behind. Does he have the credibility to get it going quickly enough? No. So, ideally, the summit should serve as a launch-pad for the next US president to get on with his four-year term's most important goal of saving America and, in the process, the world. Let's face it: The incapacitated global economy just cannot recover without a return to robust US spending, not unless another gigantic consumer emerges with a ravenous appetite to comparably spend and borrow-spend. As such, it is in every country's interest to bite the bitter pill for now, if need be, and ensure that the US economy is resuscitated. However, it's hard to imagine this happening any time soon if president-elect Obama gets to sit anywhere else but in the limelight on Nov. 15, though the same cannot be said if McCain's the one. __
