David Brown is the Managing Director of New View Economics. With a career of more than 40 years in London, Brown has served as chief economist at many international investment banks.

"Solidarity exists, division disappears" can be a sentence consistent with the enormous challenges facing the world. We live in times of great difficulty such as epidemics, recessions and protectionism, needing radical solutions in the next few years. That remains a big question even though countries are working together, but it will be a harder problem as political disagreements grow.

Can a return to multilateralism help accelerate the recovery over the next few years? The U.S., Europe and China are inherently conflicted but have not ruled outsides that will cooperate more closely. The U.S. presidential election on November 3 could be a decisive moment for the world if it opens up a new era of mutual understanding and trust.

Global GDP and trade fluctuations over the years

The world needs a viable plan to repel the COVID-19 crisis and restore annual global growth to above 4% as soon as possible. Policymakers around the world are working hard to introduce super-monetary stimulus and overall financial restructuring, but many argue that the policies are not well-documented and lacking in systems.

Governments now appear to be at odds with efforts from other countries. Therefore, it would be better if the whole world could work together as a scenario for dealing with the global crisis of 2008. Governments and central banks should work together to avoid disrupting global markets. Interest rates are cut, government spending deficits increase and currency wars are avoided.

More importantly, at the time, leaders from the world's largest economies pledged to provide more resources to help restore global growth as quickly as possible. Thus, the banner of international cooperation has been promoted.

Unfortunately in the last few years, cohesion has receded as national interests, political divisions and protectionism have dominated many international agendas. Since coming to power in 2016, US President Donald Trump has not ignored global policy coordinating bodies.

Photo: SCMP

We won't have to wait too long before American voters speak out on this issue. Victory for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden could be a major boost if it makes a breakthrough in policy cooperation between the G20, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and others, in order to prioritize stronger global growth.

There is no better place to start than for the US and China to esure trade disputes and ensure world trade returns more sustainably. It is important for the leading countries to make a strong recovery like the Third World economies, which are suffering from negative problems.

As world superpowers, the U.S. and China must set gold standards for closer reconstruction and cooperation. China can play a more prominent role in harmonize global cooperation initiatives.

If the U.S. and China "shake hands" it could help the economy of the rest of the world recover faster.

It is necessary to tighten the current ultra-liquid policies to focus on areas that will benefit the global recovery more effectively in the long term. The world needs a "new agreement" on spending on global investment in infrastructure, transport, communications and renewable energy, to cut greenhouse gas emissions and deal with climate change.

Funding must be strengthened for the IMF to fund new green technologies and sustainable recovery in emerging economies. Financial investment is needed to promote greater resource recovery.

Financial markets that benefit greatly from cheap and easy-to-earn money should contribute in part to global recovery costs. Taxing global financial transactions can significantly increase resources while helping to alleviate financial instability. Tax havens need to be abolished and advanced tax systems applied to shrink global inequality.

Finally, multilateral cooperation remains the optimal solution, the only way forward. Only by working together can the world's leading countries cope with today's challenges and achieve more success.

Source: CafeBiz