Progress towards the Brisbane Growth Strategies has not been encouraging. My quantitative assessment reflects the fact that, while my expectations were, admittedly, not high, failure to follow through on commitments in a meaningful way could undermine the credibility of the system and weaken commitment to international cooperation. I view this as a risk going forward, as cyclical positions of key economies diverge (U.S. and euro zone) and others grapple with significant adjustment challenges (e.g., China).

Paradoxically, the one bright spot is sovereign debt restructuring. The Greek debacle has shown just how far key policy makers are from grasping the importance of debt sustainability, but the IMF has shown its willingness to "grope" its way through the fog of uncertainty towards a sensible position on unsustainable debts.

Some progress seems to continue to be made, largely reflecting the institutional momentum of the process. Questions can be asked, however, whether the right issues are being addressed (shadow banking?) or are we like generals fighting the last war.

I cannot discern any significant progress on improving governance of the development agenda. I view the Addis Ababa conference as not only a distraction but counterproductive: the multiplication of goals and targets demonstrates that the process was a bureaucratic exercise rather than a thoughtful attempt to identify the obstacles to economic and social development and prioritize actions to overcome them. Based on conversations with others and not first-hand knowledge, the World Bank is less effective today than it was a decade or more ago; it will take a decade to regain its position.

No significant progress has been made (on multilateral basis), while local or regional trade restrictions continue (e.g., between MERCOSUR members). On the other hand, it isn't clear what the appropriate metric should be: the absence of regional arrangements that undermine multilateral approaches?

The China-U.S. agreement says it all. That being said, it is easy to agree on something in principle; another matter to implement it in practice. Nevertheless, the Sino-American deal creates enormous momentum for Paris and sets a higher bar than would otherwise be the case.