Bias shown by some key economic world leaders (4)
I believe the answer is:
skew
'bias' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'some key economic world leaders' is the wordplay.
'leaders' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'some key economic world' is 'SKEW'.
'shown by' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for skew that I've seen before include "At an oblique angle" , "Not symmetrical" , "Slant, bias" , "Misrepresent" , "Oblique, make crooked" .)