Very soon there will be another summit of all the heads of government of the European Union as well as a restricted one for the members of the eurozone.

...operators can now earn supernatural profits through speculation rather than investment in productive activities- Lawrence Zammit

The focal point of the discussion is bound to be the implementation of the agreement reached last December regarding the adoption of measures to respond to the sovereign debt crisis and to improve economic governance.

This week there have been bilateral meetings involving France, Germany and Italy and a trilateral meeting of the leaders of these countries is expected to take place to achieve a common viewpoint.

However, one cannot but help feel that there is no willingness to tackle the bigger picture.

Even the public statements made by other world leaders such as the UK Prime Minister or the US President appear to ignore the fact that the international financial and monetary system needs a radical reform.

There seems to be resignation that the difficulties being created by speculators, by the increased economic inequalities among nations and among individuals, and by the lack of an evident sustainable economic model, cannot be addressed.

This may be something that is understandable because the international financial and monetary system is today far more powerful than any single government and its operators are certainly not willing to be subject to decisions taken by political leaders.

However, a radical reform is still required and a new vision for the future still needs to be shaped. In this regard it is relevant to point towards the document prepared by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, with the title, Towards Reforming The International Financial and Monetary Systems In The Context Of Global Public Authority.

This document, which was published last October, did raise some eyebrows and some distanced themselves from it. Many others have decided to ignore it, probably because it challenged their traditional thinking. Irrespective of one’s fundamental beliefs this document does present many points for reflection. It is built around three fundamental principles:

First, the economic and financial crisis that the world is going through calls everyone to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence.

Second, there is an increasing need to uphold the profound value of human dignity and to search for the common good.

Third, the economic crisis demonstrates the importance of ushering a new era of sustainable global economic activity grounded in responsibility.

The conclusion arrived at in this document is that we need to create a global public authority to reform the international financial and monetary system.

In arriving at this conclusion, the document deals with the economic inequalities being experienced today, the role of technology and the need to manage this role within ethical parameters.

It also deals with the helplessness of national governments and current international structures to deal with the current crisis and the causes of this crisis, and the need to create a reform that responds to the need of all peoples.

The analysis of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace also makes reference to two important points.

The first is that we have globalised the economy and the financial markets without globalising public authorities and therefore all control has been lost.

Control has been lost to the extent that governments seem unwilling to intervene in the financial markets and would much rather make taxpayers pay for what is a classic example of market failure.

The second is that the financial and monetary system is no longer there as a tool to grow the economy, because operators can now earn supernormal profits through speculation rather than investment in productive activities.

The free movement of capital is now being used as an end in itself rather than as an enabler of economic development.

The local Chapter of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation together with Discern are holding a round table discussion on the document of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on January 24 at Palazzo de Piro in Mdina, starting at 6.30 p.m.

I believe that it will be a great opportunity to delve deeper into an international crisis that may be apparently distant from us in Malta, but is bound to have a significant impact on our economy as well.