Finance: Group Perseverance

At The Hague last week, Finance Ministers and central bankers from ten nations paused during a two-day conference on international monetary problems for a banquet at Het Prinsenhof, the royal residence of William of Orange. Presiding as host, Dutch Finance Minister Anne Vondeling toasted his colleagues with an old French proverb: "Point n'est besoin d'esperer pour entreprendre ni de réussir pour persévérer [One need not hope in order to undertake, nor succeed in order to persevere]." Next day, by a 9-1 vote, with France's Michel Debré the only holdout, Ministers of the Group of Ten agreed to persevere some...

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