Unfinished business
NOW that he has his opposite numbers' attention, Mr Brown will remind them that they have unfinished business. It is some- thing that fell off the edge two years ago, when their countries committed themselves to freer trade. This 'Uruguay Round' (and round and round) of discussions was sup- posed to include services as well as goods, but in the end and for the sake of a deal, financial services were left over for another day. That day has come and is now threaten- ing to go away again. Without agreement by an arbitrary deadline of 31 December, minis- ters will go back to arguing about trade in things that they can touch and see. Mr Brown hopes to concentrate their minds. He will have his hands full with the Malaysians, who are sure to tell him that if money flowed less freely round the world, at the behest of people like George Soros, their currency would not have been washed away. He must try to tell them (tactfully, if possible) that if their markets had been more open and more sophisticated, they could have saved them- selves a lot of trouble. His own country is, of course, the world's most enthusiastic exporter of financial services, with the most to gain from a trade agreement that extends to them, and a natural interest in getting the business finished — but he may not find the need to remind them of that.
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