The G20 financial summit will indeed be “pointless” without Obama. What, precisely, is the point of having a summit to try and sort out the global financial crisis without the man who will soon be inaugurated as President of the US?

There isn’t any.

President-elect Obama needs to stand up and be counted right away, not wait the two months (plus) until he is inaugurated.

He should be choosing his Treaury spokesman as a matter of urgency, and they should be attending all international conferences on financial issues. After all, what would the point be of such meetings? No decisions can be made, as George W Bush no longer has any real authority to make decisions for America.

Either Barack Obama needs to go to these summits, or they need to be postponed until after January 20.