"This is the urgent agenda."

Jeffrey Sachs with a post in the FT on how to avoid a global recession:

"Before our political leaders get too fancy remaking capitalism next month at the Bretton Woods II summit in Washington, they should attend to urgent business. Since the closure of Lehman Brothers triggered a global banking panic, political leaders in the US and Europe have successfully thrown a cordon round their banks to prevent financial meltdown. What they have not done yet is to co-ordinate macroeconomic policies to stop a steep global downturn.

I can't help pointing out that he agrees that Lehman started the free-fall. Anyway, here are his proposals:

1) Big national banks extend swap lines to smaller country national banks. ( Fine ) See Brad Setser here.
2) IMF loans with easier terms to smaller countries. ( Fine )
3) Stop banks in big countries from ceasing to lend to small countries. ( How? )
4) A stimulus plan in China, Japan, and South Korea. ( Fine )
5) Middle East should keep investing in smaller countries. ( Fine )
6) Large countries extend export credits to small countries. ( Fine )
7) Stimulus plan in large countries. ( I'm for a decent one )

This is a kind of kitchen sink approach, or Keynes on steroids. Perhaps that's what we need. I absolutely feel that the smaller countries need to be considered in this crisis and helped out.