ABSTRACT
Both the Group of 20 (G20) and its elder sister, the Group of 8 (G8), were born of crises. The Group of Eight industrialized democracies (in its first incarnation as the G6, with France, [West] Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US as members) emerged in response to the twin exchange rate and oil crises in the early 1970s. [For a detailed account of the origins and evolution of the G8, see Putnam and Bayne (1987) and Hajnal (2007a).] Canada became a member in 1976, forming the G7; Russia was accepted as a full member in 1998, thus transforming the group into the G8.
