In the wake of my support for the Make Poverty History folks, and in light of Brendan Nelson’s ramblings, allow me to present a Plain English Report Card ™ of the recently ended G8 summit.

• Making poverty history: C-
  US$ 50 billion in aid and the US$ 30 billion of debt relief announced earlier are both very good things that will mitigate at least some of Africa’s woes. Likewise the improvements in access for AIDS drugs. But there’s still only vague mention of removing the enormous US and EU agricultural subsidies that are seriously hampering African economies.
• The environment: F
  Finally there is at least a tacit acknowledgement from the US that global warming just might be real (shock! horror!), but beyond that there’s nothing new.
• Middle-East peace: A
  Announced relatively quietly, the US$ 3 billion Palestinian aid package is exactly the kind of thing that just might bring some long-term stability to that region.