Meeting in their G20 and International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) formats, the world's main financial decision-makers have highlighted the economic uncertainty created by the rise in populist discourse, with the presidential campaign in the United States in full flight.
Following the meeting of the IMFC on Sunday 8 October, the IMF said that although the global economy had benefited enormously from globalisation and technological progress, its prospects are increasingly under threat from economic policy centred around concerns of an internal nature, including protectionist measures, and due to a breakdown in structural reforms.
The day before, following a meeting of the Finance G20 on the sidelines of the autumn meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, the Chinese finance minister, Lou Jiwei, said that uncertainty and the risks facing the global economy have increased as several large economies enter their election periods. He expressed concerns at the profound anti-globalist populism that has gained ground and added to the economic uncertainty.
The Netherlands, France and Germany, where general elections will be held in 2017, have not been spared from the rise in power of political parties calling economic globalisation into question.
The French minister, Michel Sapin, said that one of the ways of tackling "unfortunate globalisation" is to step up the fight against tax capacity, for instance by sanctioning law firms offering opaque financial systems and bringing in increased controls on free ports, which may be used to store smuggled works of art. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)