With the world facing its worst recession in decades, nobody knows exactly how to combat the situation. Some, the U.S. and Britain among them, have urged for much more spending to bring their respective economies back to life; others feel that infrastructure must be reworked before more money is pumped in, like Paris. France has since accused Washington of underplaying the importance of important market regulation.

On Wednesday this week, U.K. finance minister Alistair Darling announced in conjunction with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that spending was the most crucial part of the economic recovery operation, a view which was contested at the time by both European G20 nations and U.S. House of Representatives Democrat Nancy Pelosi. She reiterated the importance of examining the effectiveness of the initial $787 billion stimulus first, before commiting to any more fiscal backing.

Republican politicians have already claimed the level of government spending in response to the recession has been too high, and many feel that further financial input would be premature, at best. Paris has spoken out against the idea of more spending, and feel that above all else more effected, safeguarded financial regulations are crucial steps on the path to recovery. Japan has recently aligned itself with the British and U.S. way of thinking, but there is still a doubtless lack of consensus amongst the Group of 20 industrialized and developing countries, analysts say.

C. Fred Bergsten, a former assistant secretary of the Treasury, motioned that the G20 summit be used to establish a goal of fiscal stimulus equalling 3% of GDP for the next two years, in order to remedy the crisis: this is an increase of the initial consensus by officials to contribute 2%. European capitals stand by their argument that instantaneously tougher market regulation is just as important an aspect of the solution.

The official G20 summit will take place in London, April 2nd; the conference in Britain this weekend includes finance ministers and central bankers attempting to agree on a unified approach to the recession, in an effort to pave the way for the complete talks. There have been calls, which will fully be articulated in April, for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to double its lending capacity to nations which are struggling, an idea that has been met coolly by certain countries. Brazil, China, India, and Russia have collectively said that their contributions to the finance agency will not increase until it is reflected in an increase of their voting power.

Though the hosts, most noteably today Mr. Darling, attempted to play down the differences, there is a tangible lack of unity between the 20 developed and developing nations approaching this conference. In a press release today the British Finance Minister stressed that the common goal, of limiting the damage and subsequently repairing it, is forefront in the minds of all involved, and that differences of opinion will not detract from the gravity of the situation.

“I’ve talked to (U.S. Treasury Secretary) Tim Geithner and we’ve made a lot of progress in the last few weeks. Inevitably when you have a change of administration it takes some time, especially in the United States, where you have a long transition period. But frankly, I’m pretty happy with the level of engagement.” — Alistair Darling

The financial crisis is being labelled the worst in decades, and began in the last quarter of 2008. One outlying objective of the G20 summit is to give stronger representation to developing countries which are being hit by the recession, and it seems that mitigating circumstances have seen changes in policy: Switzerland has agreed to modify privacy rules to help prevent tax evasion.

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