The unaccountable G-8

So let's make our own account of how the G-8 did. The answer, alas, is a failing grade. The G-8 this year illustrates the difference between photo-ops and serious global governance.

Of all of the G-8's promises over the years, the most important was made to the world's poorest people at the 2005 G-8 Gleneagles Summit in Scotland. The G-8 promised that, by this year, it would increase annual development assistance to the world's poor by $50 billion relative to 2004. Half of the increase, or $25 billion per year, would go to Africa.