Pittsburgh to Host the World in September (Washington, McDonald: unemployment rate, school)

[ditchdigger]

Sure, and when the G-20 web site says so, I'll believe it.

Maybe they're just as good at running a website as they are at running the world economy?

I doubt it because downtown would be a logistical nightmare to host the heads of state of the world's 20th largest economies in terms of security. I wouldn't even attempt it.

It's probably a nightmare in any city that hosts it.

Now, whether Pittsburgh's administration is up to the task of dealing with that nightmare is a different question. Somebody above mentioned that it won't even rival a Steelers victory celebration, and in terms of sheer numbers, it may not, but it's a totally different set of concerns. I'll bet that there will be quite a lot of federal involvement, and I wouldn't be surprised to see PA State Police drawn in from all over the sate as well. I'd be fascinated to be able to watch the process as it unfolds.

[AaronPGH]

JoeLeaphorn....this is taken from the Post-Gazette. It is a full blown summit, although it wasn't originally scheduled to be:

"The summit will be a meeting of leaders of those countries, White House officials said. It will not be just deputies, who typically meet in advance of a summit meeting, and who had initially been scheduled for a G-20 assembly in September. The leaders decided in April that it would be useful for them to meet then as well for an update.""

City to host global leaders for G-20 summit in September

[creepsinc]

Originally Posted by AaronClark

JoeLeaphorn....this is taken from the Post-Gazette. It is a full blown summit, although it wasn't originally scheduled to be:

"The summit will be a meeting of leaders of those countries, White House officials said. It will not be just deputies, who typically meet in advance of a summit meeting, and who had initially been scheduled for a G-20 assembly in September. The leaders decided in April that it would be useful for them to meet then as well for an update.""

City to host global leaders for G-20 summit in September

That's what I read too, the day after they announced it. At the last summit, they resolved to have two a year. The next one is in Pittsburgh. Or so they say.

[PeterRabbit]

The mayor said federal security will cost us but that they will be "pitching in." In the same news segment they said that the city should realize about $8 million because of it.

I was skeptical about world leaders coming here until seeing Aaron's post and link to the P-G article.

[Hotlanta2]

Originally Posted by JoeLeaphorn

Who mentioned November? But you are incorrect. The November 2008 meeting was the G-20 at the invitation of George W. Bush.

The G-20 is hosted by the UK in 2009. The hosting country determines when/where the summit is held, not the US. There is no mention on ANY official G-20 site of a SUMMIT in Pittsburgh.

Also, there were other G20 Deputies meetings in 2009 (in March) which were not called Summits. Only ONE was called a Summit and that was in April in London. There are no other official Summits scheduled in 2009. Perhaps they have decided to change the Deputies meetings to a Summit but if so, the official G-20 web site says nothing about it.

Don't show me the BBC. Show me an official G-20 web site which says that Pittsburgh is hosting a Summit (meaning the heads of state will be here, not simply finance ministers).

Until you can, I won't believe it.

Well, I do agree, however, it would be nice if "a" summit were actually held here.

[JoeLeaphorn]

The G-20 Research Center (which is not an official G-20 site) has the following document (dated May 8):

http://www.g20.utoronto.ca/g20plans/...ders090508.pdf

which states that third G-20 Summit was to be held in the US, possibly New York, in September 2009. A separate Deputies Meeting was scheduled for September 2009. The Obama announcement appears to be stating that the two meetings will take place as a single (heads of state and Finance Ministers) Summit, in Pittsburgh.

There is still no official word of this on the G-20 site which is currently located in the UK and has not been updated since April.

[creepsinc]

Originally Posted by Hotlanta2

Well, I do agree, however, it would be nice if "a" summit were actually held here.

There is a G20 Summit being held in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25th and 26th 2009, with the leaders of the 20 largest economies expected. Also, the Earth is round.

[Hotlanta2]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

There is a G20 Summit being held in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25th and 26th 2009, with the leaders of the 20 largest economies expected. Also, the Earth is round.

No need to insult me. I was merely making a comment based on what appeared to be a post from someone who seemed to have more knowledge about the summit than myself. Again, I would LOVE to have a summit here - of any kind.

PS- I had no idea the earth was round! How marvelous!

[JoeLeaphorn]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

There is a G20 Summit being held in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25th and 26th 2009, with the leaders of the 20 largest economies expected. Also, the Earth is round.

It is G-20 (with a dash). The G20 without a dash is the Group of Twenty developing nations.

It is not the worlds' 20st largest economies, rather, it is a combination of the G-7 (or G7) member countries with some of the worlds largest economies as well as other important markets and emerging economies, and the EU. All members rank within the top 31 economies in terms of GDP, though there are some members whose GDPs are below member states, in part because they are included as part of the European Union.

For example, the following are members whose GDP is less than that of the 19th largest economy (Taiwan, which is NOT a member):

Argentina (23)
Saudi Arabia (22)
South Africa (25)

The following are not members, though they are in the top 20 in terms of GDP:

Spain (12)
Iran (17)
Poland (20 or 21)
Netherlands (19 or 20)

As it has no charter, there exist no formal rules of membership. Although meetings may be open, deliberations are private and while the G-20 issues public reports, these are more about principles than actual decisions.

For this reason, many oppose the G-20 as being a self-selecting private club and some argue that US participation may be unconstitutional as the Constitution gives Congress the power to ratify treaties.

As for economic benefit, I'd rather have a Superbowl here (never happen) or a World Series (unlikely). The Washington Summit brought about 100 protestors. Even with the entourage, I'm not convinced that the projected revenue will offset the cost of law enforcement, traffic restrictions, etc.

[BrianTH]

My understanding of the backstory is that at the closing of the April meeting, they agreed it would be a good idea to meet again in the fall, and Obama volunteered to host the event around the same time as a U.N. General Assembly meeting, since many world leaders would be in the U.S. anyway for that event. The public assumption given that backstory was that the meeting would be in New York, but Obama instead secretly arranged for the meeting in Pittsburgh.

As a final word on what I consider to be a tangential subject, I have frequently noted it often takes quite a while for various firms and organizations to update their websites.