"We know this because we've tried already"

Sebastian Mallaby, just like Felix Salmon, although for different reasons, doesn't see much coming out of this conference called for by Sarkozy:

"Of course there is a role for global cooperation. The coordinated interest rate cuts and bank rescues of recent days have been constructive. But it's worth remembering that after the last global crisis, in 1997-98, there was lots of grand talk about a new international financial architecture. In the end, the only important reforms were national ones. Governments ran budget surpluses and built up foreign reserves to protect themselves from the next shock. That shock has arrived, and we are about to find out if those changes were enough. One thing is certain: They were not the result of any international conference. "

The ideas most bandied about:
1) Establish a CDS exchange. ( Makes sense)
2) Reduce leverage. ( Makes sense)
3) Reform IMF. ( Makes sense )

Don't need big agreements.

I tend to doubt such agreements, because each country ends up taking care of itself in the end, so that compliance is really the result of agreement or consent in each individual case.