'Too big to fail' may be the lesser of two evils

Reforms to better prepare the world's 30 biggest banks for times of crisis should certainly be high on the agenda of G20 leaders who will meet next week in Turkey. But the continuing flood of cheap money poses an even greater threat to global financial stability and economic growth that the G20 leaders must work together to fix.

As the global economy is bracing for the weakest annual growth since 2009, it is surely urgent for the international community to take preemptive measures that will allow a global systemically important bank to fail without creating the kind of market mayhem as the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers did in 2008.

The recommendation by the Financial Stability Board, which advises G20 countries on banking reform, that big banks should raise up to 1.1 trillion euros (about $1 trillion) of additional cash to ensure their own survival should disaster strike again therefore deserves serious consideration.