eAlmanac | A Unique Online Reference Source » G-7

G-7

Posted September 23, 2009 @ 1:56 pm In G,Letters,Numbers,Seven | No Comments

Canada ^[1]
France ^[2]
Germany ^[3]
Italy ^[4]
Japan ^[5]
United Kingdom ^[6]
United States ^[7]

In 1975, in response to the breakdown of the Bretton Woods monetary system ^[8], the 1973 Oil Shock ^[9], and the economic recession of 1974 ^[10], the leaders of the world’s largest industrial, free-market economies formed the Group of Seven.

The leaders from each country and their respective finance ministers meet annually at the G-7 summits to consult and coordinate with each other on economic policies. One of the Group’s most important meetings took place in 1985 at the Plaza Hotel in New York. The meeting, through coordination among the members, resulted in the dollar weakening significantly against the other members’ currencies, particularly the Japanese yen. This development helped to reduce the US’s trade deficit. The list of G-7/G-8 summits and locations is as follows:

YEAR	SUMMIT LOCATION	NOTES
1975	Rambouillet, France ^[11]	Canada did not attend
1976	San Juan, Puerto Rico ^[12]	Canada attended
1977	London, United Kingdom ^[13]	aka “London I”
1978	Bonn, West Germany ^[14]	aka “Bonn I’
1979	Tokyo, Japan ^[15]	aka “Tokyo I”
1980	Venice, Italy ^[16]	aka “Venice I”
1981	Ottawa, Canada ^[17]	aka “Montebello”
1982	Versailles, France ^[18]
1983	Williamsburg, Virginia, USA ^[19]
1984	London, United Kingdom ^[20]	aka “London II”
1985	Bonn, West Germany ^[21]	aka “Bonn II”
1986	Tokyo, Japan ^[22]	aka “Tokyo II”
1987	Venice, Italy ^[23]	aka “Venice II”
1988	Toronto, Canada ^[24]
1989	Paris, France ^[25]
1990	Houston, Texas, USA ^[26]
1991	London, United Kingdom ^[27]	aka “London III”; The Soviet Union attends
1992	Munich, Germany ^[28]
1993	Tokyo, Japan ^[29]	aka “Tokyo III”
1994	Naples, Italy ^[30]
1995	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada ^[31]
1996a	Moscow, Russia ^[32]
1996b	Lyon, France ^[33]
1997	Denver, Colorado, USA ^[34]	aka “Denver Summit of the Eight”; Russia attends
1998	Birmingham, United Kingdom ^[35]	Russia officially a member
1999	Cologne (Köln), Germany ^[36]
2000	Okinawa, Japan ^[37]
2001	Genoa, Italy ^[38]
2002	Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada ^[39]
2003	Evian-les-Bains, France ^[40]
2004	Sea Island, Georgia, USA ^[41]
2005	Gleneagles, United Kingdom ^[42]
2006	St. Petersburg, Russia ^[43]
2007	Heiligendamm, Germany ^[44]
2008	Hokkaido Toyako, Japan ^[45]
2009	L’Aquila, Italy ^[46]
2010	Huntsville, Ontario, Canada

Russia or the USSR has been attending meetings of the G-7 since 1991. Prior to 1998, Russia has only been an “observer.” Since 1998, Russia has officially been a member of the Group of Seven, changing its name to the “Group of Eight.”

In addition, the European Union sends officials to the Group of Eight meetings.

Several G-7 counter-groups that have been formed to protest the perceived exclusiveness and arrogance of these meetings, such as the G20 Developing Nations ^[47].

How It's Used

“In August [1995], the G-7 central banks all bought dollars in a giant coordinated effort, driving the exchange rate nearly to 100 yen.”

—Jacob Weisberg, “Traitor to his Class?” Worth, July/August, 1997, p. 132.

"For the last 30-odd years, treasury secretaries have generally focused on G-7 conferences and international crises like emerging market meltdowns. But over the last several months, the scope of the treasury secretary's job has been redefined in historic ways. Geithner will be responsible not just for putting out fires but for rebuilding from the ashes of the world financial system.”

—Daniel Gross, “Secretary of Saving the World: Tim Geithner's daunting to-do list at the Treasury Department,” Slate, December 20, 2008.

"Group of Seven finance chiefs stopped short of singling out the weaker dollar for criticism and stuck to their mantra that “disorderly” swings in currencies threaten economic growth.

“'Excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability,' G-7 ministers and central bankers said in a statement after talks today in Istanbul. Officials welcomed China’s 'continued commitment' to a more flexible currency, which they said would promote balanced global growth. The statement repeated language used at the last G-7 in April."

—Simon Kennedy and Mark Deen, "G-7 Avoids Dollar Criticism, Warns Against Volatility," Bloomberg, October 3, 2009.

Also Known As (AKA)

The Group of Seven

Links

Related on eAlmanac
G-3
G-8
G-20

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on the G7
G8 [sic] Information Centre at the University of Toronto

Article printed from eAlmanac | A Unique Online Reference Source: http://www.ealmanac.com

URL to article: http://www.ealmanac.com/1589/letters/g-7/

Return to article

URLs in this post:

[1] Canada: http://www.gc.ca/

[2] France: http://www.gouvernement.fr/

[3] Germany: http://www.deutschland.de/

[4] Italy: http://www.esteri.it/

[5] Japan: http://www.mofa.go.jp/

[6] United Kingdom: http://www.direct.gov.uk/

[7] United States: http://www.usa.gov/

[8] Bretton Woods monetary system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system

[9] 1973 Oil Shock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis

[10] economic recession of 1974: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_recession

[11] Rambouillet, France: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1975rambouillet/index.html

[12] San Juan, Puerto Rico: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1976sanjuan/index.html

[13] London, United Kingdom: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1977london/index.html

[14] Bonn, West Germany: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1978bonn/index.html

[15] Tokyo, Japan: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1979tokyo/index.html

[16] Venice, Italy: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1980venice/index.html

[17] Ottawa, Canada: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1981ottawa/index.html

[18] Versailles, France: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1982versailles/index.html

[19] Williamsburg, Virginia, USA: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1983williamsburg/index.html

[20] London, United Kingdom: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1984london/index.html

[21] Bonn, West Germany: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1985bonn/index.html

[22] Tokyo, Japan: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1986tokyo/index.html

[23] Venice, Italy: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1987venice/index.html

[24] Toronto, Canada: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1988toronto/index.html

[25] Paris, France: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1989paris/index.html

[26] Houston, Texas, USA: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1990houston/index.html

[27] London, United Kingdom: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1991london/index.html

[28] Munich, Germany: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1992munich/index.html

[29] Tokyo, Japan: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1993tokyo/index.html

[30] Naples, Italy: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1994naples/index.html

[31] Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1995halifax/index.html

[32] Moscow, Russia: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1996moscow/index.html

[33] Lyon, France: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1996lyon/index.htm

[34] Denver, Colorado, USA: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1997denver/index.htm

[35] Birmingham, United Kingdom: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1998birmingham/index.htm

[36] Cologne (Köln), Germany: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/1999koln/index.htm

[37] Okinawa, Japan: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2000okinawa/

[38] Genoa, Italy: http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2001genoa/

[39] Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2002kananaskis/

[40] Evian-les-Bains, France: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2003evian/

[41] Sea Island, Georgia, USA: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2004seaisland/index.html

[42] Gleneagles, United Kingdom: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2005gleneagles/index.html

[43] St. Petersburg, Russia: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2006stpetersburg/index.html

[44] Heiligendamm, Germany: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2007heiligendamm/index.html

[45] Hokkaido Toyako, Japan: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2008hokkaido/index.html

[46] L’Aquila, Italy: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/2009laquila/road.html

[47] G20 Developing Nations: http://www.g-20.mre.gov.br/

Click here to print.