White House

WASHINGTON—While lawmakers in the House and Senate craft dueling versions of tax-overhaul legislation, battling over corporate tax rates and rules for overseas income, corporate chiefs at a gathering across town are sweating some of the smaller stuff.

By Friday evening, the heads of the world's 20 biggest economies -- from the US to South Africa, encompassing 85 percent of global economic activity -- will have dined, met, lunched, met again, and made their pronouncements.

If history is any judge, there may not be much in the way of immediate or lasting results.