Have the G-8 nations lost their economic power? This is exactly what James G. Neuger feels may be happening. How can this be, you ask. Aren't the G-8 nations are the wealthiest nations on earth? Yes, that is true, but it is also true that the G-8 countries also hold the the most debt.

Bank bailouts and stimulus programs will explode the G-8 nations' debt to 114% of GDP in 2014. This debt load would be triple that of emerging countries. Even some G-8 members say that the group has lost its grip in this global recession, which left them wounded and unable to carry out the grandiose programs they previously envisioned like the reduction of greenhouse gasses.

Nouriel Roubini, the once obscure New York University economics professor who two years ago predicted the current global financial crisis, now says leaders of the world's major industrialized economies and developing countries must implement an 'all fronts' approach to avert a financial calamity and a global depression.

"It will take a significant change in leadership of economic policy and very radical, coordinated policy actions among all advanced and emerging-market economies to avoid this economic and financial disaster," Roubini said on his web site, RGE Monitor.

Roubini urged that national policy makers take immediate action to end the crisis, which has dramatically tightened credit conditions worldwide, constraining the ability of corporations to undertake daily operations, which will hurt GDP growth rates in every region.

And, ironically or by coincidence, leaders will have an opportunity to dialogue and implement a common strategy: officials from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Group of Seven (G-7) nations meet in Washington, D.C. this weekend for their previously-scheduled annual meeting.

If overnight interest rates do not fall as a result of the Fed's guarantee for commercial paper and related efforts to create incentives for banks to lend, the leaders of world's central banks and treasury departments may have to try a more creative approach to end the financial crisis: a global distressed asset summit.

As economist David H. Wang told BloggingStocks Wednesday, the major economies may have to hold a global 'out & price' summit to get distressed and bad assets -- the source of so many of the defaults and resultant fear among banks -- out of the financial system.

The problem, Wang said, is not just that the subprime and Alt-A mortgage backed securities represent distressed and bad debt, it's that "banks and other financial institutions can't determine the value or price of many of these securities."

Unknowns about toxic assets driving fear

Wang believes that "lack of certainty about price is the biggest factor in banks' unwillingness to lend."

"Banks can't determine the price of these assets, it represents a big uncertainty, therefore because they're uncertain regarding what their competitor banks hold, they aren't lending, and they're charging higher rates for short-term loans," Wang said. "Both are restricting commerce and will continue to slow economies all over the world if the problem is not addressed."

The need to fulfill promises of increased aid for Africa, and a general agreement between the United States and Russia on an approach to Iran's nuclear program took center stage as leaders from the Group of Eight industrial nations met Monday in Japan, The Associated Press reported.

President Bush, attending his last summit as a sitting U.S. president, underscored the importance of providing aid for Africa, calling on wealthy nations to provide mosquito netting and other aid to prevent needless deaths, the AP reported.

Basic items - - even equipment as basic as mosquito netting - - can reduce mortality rates in sections of Africa. Mosquito netting prevents children and others from dieing of bites from disease-carrying mosquitoes.

In 2005 the G-8 pledged to increase global aid to $130 billion, and increase assistance to Africa to $50 billion. ONE, a nonpartisan group working to end extreme poverty, predicted that the U.S. and the United Kingdom will meet their commitments, while France, Italy, Germany and Canada are off the mark, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Increased global food aid likely

Economist Glen Langan, whose specializations include agricultural economics, said increased aid for food and agricultural development will likely be announced by G-8 leaders at the summit, or soon thereafter, due to the rising cost of food's impact on poorer nations. "The aid will be targeted to meeting basic needs first, but with an eye toward directing some funds to self-sustaining agriculture," Langan said, adding that Africa "has the potential to achieve food production gains greater than South America."

The dollar rose to its highest level in more than a week Monday morning on talk leaders at the G-8 summit in Japan will support the currency in an attempt to halt rising commodity prices.

The dollar strengthened about one-half cent versus the euro to $1.5629 and about 1 cent versus the British pound to $1.9659 in Monday morning trading. The dollar also rose about one-half yen to 107.66 versus Japan's yen.

Ian Stannard, a senior currency strategist at BNP Paribas SA (NASDAQ: BNPQY), France's largest bank, told Bloomberg News Monday that support for the dollar in the form of verbal invention continues, driven by the thesis that a stronger dollar, globally, is in everyone's interest.

Many economists agree that a falling and weak dollar has been a factor in rising commodity prices. Oil and other commodities tend to rise when the dollar falls as investors / traders seek to preserve purchasing power of the decreased value of dollar-denominated commodities by bidding their price up. However, economists differ regarding the extent of the weak dollar's commodity-inflation impact, with some arguing it is only a mild factor.

'Actions speak louder than words'

Further, economist Peter Dawson told BloggingStocks Monday, dollar bulls should not feel too emboldened by a verbal stance by the G-8.

I'm just two generations removed from Germany and so is my wife. We still have "folks" of the Austrian and Bavarian persuasions so let's just say we have some mildly vested interest in this situation. UPI reports that violent protests have broken out last week in Germany amid massive peaceful assemblies that sought to derail the G8 summit in the city of Rostock. It seems that although many "leaders" of the demonstrations have attempted to quell the passions of their followers, those efforts have been at least temporarily futile.

It is no surprise to me that certain of the demonstrators have become majorly unglued. When one considers that the protest movement itself is so heavily left leaning, it's surprising to me that they have retained any order and control of themselves at all. Socialists, liberalists, anti-capitalists and anarchists, that's who most of these rioters are. I can almost hear them from here saying, "We don't like what we have so chaos is our last vestige of control."

I don't stand in the way of any person's right to protest, in fact, the democratic nations of the world have made provision for that. What I can't seem to bring myself to grips with is this wimp-like, face hiding, hood raised, pansy-assed style of rock throwing, car burning protest. What a bunch of puppies they are. They're all full of big words of hatred and world upheaval, but they choose to deliver their message from behind goofy masks. Back in my day, if you had a message to deliver to the establishment, you got right in a cop's face, close enough so he could smell your breath, you locked eyes with him and delivered your message firmly and in person within earshot of the press. If the cop was a man (or lady), they'd accept your message straight-faced and wait for you to move on. If the cop was an establishment fascist, you generally got grabbed by the collar, were given a set of stainless steel bracelets and spent the night in the tank. Either way, your message got through and there was no measurable property damage.

Protests can be the vehicles of change. Riots are just plain blatant stupidity. Anonymous rioters are criminals of the worst sort. Common sense and history dictate that peaceful demonstrations have the greatest effect over time. I have no other more effective solutions than that to offer.