G-7 is well timed to fight recession but leaders unlikely to act

The UK, like Germany, is at risk of slipping into a recession after recent data showed a second-quarter 0.2 per cent decline in gross domestic product

It ought to be good news that leaders from the Group of Seven are gathering for a retreat on the Bay of Biscay as the global economy slows, trade wars escalate and major economies like Germany slide toward recession.

But the allies are so divided that they may squander the chance to find a solution.

At any other time in history, the expectation from such a summit would be for a coordinated response to loosen fiscal purse strings and walk away from protectionism -- an approach that came out of similar meetings called to respond to the far more dire global financial