I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan to spend the weekend glued to the computer or TV waiting to see what the world’s finance mavens do at the “G20″ summit.

Yes, the British prime minister and the French president are eager for some sort of “new Bretton Woods” to come out of this process.  Yes, George Soros has remarked on a number of occasions, always with the same careful choice of words, that there is “no suitable alternative” to the dollar.  But does that mean we’re going to wake up Monday morning with a new international currency regime backed by gold?  That gold will be revalued to $10,600 an ounce, or even $53,000?

Maybe.  But not now, I’m guessing.

The most compelling argument against bold, dramatic action this weekend is the interregnum between the current U.S. presidency and the next one.  A lot of news stories speak of the summit coming at an “awkward” time.  This is hokum, of course.  The really big policies don’t change much from one president to another.  But as Carroll Quiqley wrote in Tragedy and Hope, the pretense of divisions between the major U.S. parties must be maintained for the sake of the power elite staying in control.

So expect pretense in abundance.  The new president is sending a couple of steady establishment types as his representatives — Madeleine Albright and former Iowa GOP Congressmember Jim Leach (a reliable stooge of the banking industry) — to meet “on the sidelines” with the assorted luminaries.

Dramatic action might be discussed.  But it likely won’t be decided on, and certainly not announced.  Expect a formal statement at the conclusion that will be larded with platitudes, and no hint about future direction.

“Of course,” as Bugs Bunny said, “I could be wrong.”  So if you wake up Monday morning and find the gold ETFs have all been seized and your holdings in those funds will be compensated in cash at 20 cents on the dollar, don’t blame me.

Source: Don’t Waste a Weekend