As 2010 dawned, optimists hoped that the year would bring a strong economic recovery, agreement on an ambitious package of financial regulatory reforms and progress towards strong, stable and balanced world economic growth for the medium term.

The Toronto summit of leaders of the Group of 20 industrialised nations was billed as the moment the world's leading economies would get down to the serious business of agreeing changes to policy aimed at consigning the financial and economic crisis of the past three years and its causes to history. Countries would pledge with their domestic policies to reduce imbalances in the world economy at the same time as maintaining demand. And as part of the process of financial reform, leaders would sign up to a new global levy on their banks to compensate taxpayers for bailing them out in the crisis.

But with the year approaching its halfway point, events have disrupted the schedule for the G20 leaders as they gather in Canada amid tight security and an artificial lake to improve the backdrop for TV cameras.