World Economic Forum at Davos
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For the Davos rookies, you may be asking yourself, what exactly is the World Economic Forum?
WEF founder and organizer Klaus Schwab says, “it’s not a formal decision making meeting but a lab for new ideas, a testing ground and launching pad for new initiatives and an informal platform for resolving disputes.”
And who attends the WEF?
You must be invited to attend the WEF, and about 2,600 people will descend upon Davos to be part of the week long conference. The average cost, all told with transportation, lodging, etc will run you close to $40,000, by CNN's estimate. 1,000 leading companies and 200 smaller businesses - many from the developing world attend the forum. According to the WEF "Partners are select member companies who strongly support, contribute to and benefit from the World Economic Forum’s commitment to improving the state of the world. They are actively involved in the organization's activities and contribute their expertise and resources."
Decision makers from governments around the world, academics, CEOs, and major bank executives attend, along with the random celebrities and semi-retired pop stars (Bono of U2 is a regular Davos Man) -
What to watch for at this year's World Economic Forum
Bruce Upbin at Forbes has a nice walk-up to the forum and lists the following as things to keep an eye out for this year:
- Cameron could use the moment to deliver the “we’re leaving the EU” speech (We asked if leaving the EU would be good or bad for the UK)
- Medvedev caps big Russian contingent this year as he (Putin) using Davos as a launchpad for his agenda as president of the G20 in 2013.
- Russia’s competitiveness will be addressed in report coming out this week called “Scenarios for the Russian Federation” in a major plenary session with Medvedev reacting to it at that session.
- The massive purchase of bad debt and printing of money has made ECB and Japan’s central bank now close to one-third of the EU and Japan’s GDP.
Along with those items of note, the follow are the three main agenda items that the WEF has set for itself:
Davos organizers have prioritized 3 areas to take action on:
- Growth and food security in Africa
- Climate change, with Davos attendees are expected to add $500 million to a green tech fund this year
- More power parity for women.
Regarding the last item, our Ross Chainey points out that only 17% of WEF delegates this year are women, according to The Guardian. -
Good afternoon from Davos! We're tucked into what we call "The Library" here just a short distance from the Congress Center where all the magic happens here at Davos.
Ross Chainey, Ryan McCarthy, Frank Tantillo and myself will be guiding you through the week along with Lauren LaCapra and other Reuters correspondents on the ground.by anthony.derosa via Pbs.twimg 1/22/2013 12:00:26 PM -
Davos leaders uneasy over glut of easy money
Reuters' European Affairs Editor, Paul Taylor, writes: "The world is awash in easy money, with consequences that are starting to worry some central bankers and business leaders at the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF), though so far inflation fears seem overdone."
Paul says that, in taking unconventional steps (such as keeping interest rates at historically low levels and buying government bonds) in order to reduce unemployment, raise nominal GDP and ensure the smooth functioning of the sovereign bond market, central banks have alarmed purists who worry that "the guardians of sound money are losing their independence to governments and will find it hard to get the genie back into the bottle."
Read Paul's analysis in full here. -
What is "resilient dynamism?"
The theme of this year's WEF is "resilient dynamism" but what exactly does that mean?
Merriam-Webster defines resilience as "the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens" and dynamism as "energy and a strong desire to make something happen".
So in a nutshell, the world is skittish from crisis after global crisis and the WEF is calling for everyone to put aside fear, develop a plan for future crisis (black swan) but don't allow fear to overwhelm our ability to move forward and take on new risks. -
Andrew Ross Sorkin's DealBook column today has a short history of wildly inaccurate predictions made at Davos -- including Bill Gates predicting Google's demise in 2003. Whoops. -
...this is what makes Davos so fascinating: it is the most perfect case study of how the practitioners of free-market, globalised capitalism give the public one explanation for what they are doing and why, while privately pursuing the complete opposite. On the one hand there is an event attended by Sharon Stone, Bono and a slew of tame academics (14 Nobel laureates this week alone), the message being "we're open to anyone". On the other hand, there are those secret meetings, off limits to anyone not in the £100k club. It is both a reputation-laundry service, and the most shadowy backroom-dealing house. From its inception, the whole point of Davos has been to promulgate the gospel of free-market fundamentalism.
- Aditya Chakrabortty for The Guardian
...and yet, what positives have come out of Davos?
In recent years Davos has been criticized for moving away from having a serious conversation with economic decision makers and towards trendier social issues.
However the WEF has been the home to some major brokering with global implications. Greece and Turkey were at the brink of war before The Davos Declaration was signed in 1988.
South African President F. W. de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi in 1992 at the WEF. In 1994, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat reached a draft agreement on Gaza and Jericho.
Political leaders were invited for the first time to the annual meeting in 1974, which broadened the scope of the WEF. -
David Cameron's big EU speech
He's not in Davos (yet), but everyone here seems to be talking about British Prime Minister David Cameron's big EU speech, which takes place in snowy London tomorrow.
Cameron is expected to say which powers he wants to try to claw back from the EU and to promise a referendum on what he calls a "new settlement" if he wins the next general election, due in 2015.
Reuters correspondent Andrew Osborn looks ahead to Cameron's speech in this piece, while European Affairs Editor Paul Taylor's analysis on why Cameron is leading Britain into a minefield on the EU is a must read. -
Power parity for women
As my colleague Anthony De Rosa mentioned earlier, one of the main themes of this year's Davos programme is 'More power parity for women.' The organisers of the WEF annual meeting have made a big push in recent years to increase the number of female delegates, but it's still a predominantly male gathering.
Here's that link again to today's excellent piece in the Guardian which asks: Why are only 17% of delegates women?
The biggest companies attending Davos have had a quota system slapped on them by the WEF (they must send one woman for every four men), but it doesn't seem to be making much of a difference. Given that a mere 2% of FTSE 100 companies have female CEOs, perhaps it's not that surprising. But this is a theme we'll be looking into in more detail this week and we'll ask delegates what they think whenever we get the chance. -
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Who's who in Davos?
The WEF's annual meeting in Davos has expanded rapidly since its formation in 1971, when Klaus Schwab, then a business professor at the University of Geneva, chaired a gathering of 440 participants from 30 countries. This year, around 2,600 people have been invited to attend.
So who's name is on the list (and if it's not down, you're not getting in!)? Hat-tip to Quartz, for putting together this interactive list of attendees.
The WEF has also published its own list, but it's not as much fun to play with. -
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Global Markets Forum live chat with Anthony Scaramucci
Fund manager and founder of Skybridge Capital Anthony Scaramucci stopped by the Reuters Davos HQ (otherwise known as the town library) earlier today to take part in a live discussion with subscribers to the Reuters Global Markets Forum. Scaramucci – who was also Mitt Romney’s finance chairman (The Daily Beast described him as ‘Mitt’s Man on Wall Street’) - answered questions on a wide range of topics, including the U.S. fiscal situation, Japan and emerging markets.
Here's a few insights from Scaramucci, taken from the live chat:
“Until we see real wage growth in the US there won’t be tangible inflation beyond food and energy prices. Good inflation: asset price kind, real estate and stocks, the Fed wants this.”
“A deal (on the deficit) will not be reached in U.S. except for more can kicking. This means that Moody's could threaten another downgrade to U.S. debt. Our view is the Republicans will yield to the president and he will own the outcome for his party.”
“Earnings are sluggish but there is overwhelming liquidity and there will be share repurchases with corp cash. Liquidity trumps earnings. Liquidity uber alles. At some point governments will need to step back." -
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We're underway with the welcoming ceremony here at Davos. After a brief introduction from executive chairman Klaus Schaub, the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award is given to Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. The Crystal Award honours artists who have used their art to improve the state of the world.
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Here's a preview of some of the highlights to expect tomorrow at Davos:
9 am: Jamie Dimon joins a financial risk panel.
9 am: Although not at Davos (yet) UK prime minister David Cameron will present his long awaited speech about the UK's future in the European Union.
11:45am: Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev will make a special address.
Noon: Syria press conference
5 pm: Chrystia Freeland will interview Larry Summers.
6 pm: Managing director of the IMF Christine Lagarde will discuss "resilient dynamism" with WEF executive chairman Klaus Schwab.
7 pm: Open forum panel on global unemployment. -
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Good morning, welcome back to our live coverage of the world's greatest schmoozefest - the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Coming up in around 20 minutes, our first Davos Today show of this year's conference.
Watch live on our Davos page from 6am GMT. -
John Lipsky, former IMF deputy director and now at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, is the first guest on Davos Today.
Anchor Axel Threlfall asks Lipsky if the euro zone has hit bottom. "I hope so. There are still risks," he says. -
You think people are coming to #Davos for networking, but some just want to ski. A CEO I met came early to have two days on the slopes #WEFby ReutersLJucca via twitter 1/23/2013 6:07:13 AM -
I am facing four days of meetings with men in grey suits. Only top female banker on the #WEF list turned me down. #Davos2013by ReutersLJucca via twitter 1/23/2013 6:08:44 AM
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#WEF's Klaus Schwab on #DavosToday now http://reut.rs/11QkHRp @Reuters_Davosby Reuters Insider via twitter 1/23/2013 6:08:59 AM -
Now on #DavosToday #Infosys Kris Gopalakrishnan Co-Chairman http://reut.rs/11QkHRp @kris_sg @Reuters_Davos #WEFby Reuters Insider via twitter 1/23/2013 6:11:56 AM
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Now on #DavosToday Ernst & Young Global Chairman Mark Weinberger http://reut.rs/11QkHRp @Reuters_Davos #WEFby Reuters Insider via twitter 1/23/2013 6:14:34 AM
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"2013 will be better than 2012" says Kris Gopalakrishnan of #infosys on #DavosToday #WEFby amyjgardner via twitter 1/23/2013 6:16:52 AM -
Cameron to promise Britons straight choice on EU exit
Reuters' Andrew Osborn and Peter Griffiths report:
Prime Minister David Cameron will promise on Wednesday to give Britons a straight referendum choice on whether to stay in the European Union or leave, provided he wins an election in 2015.
Cameron will end months of speculation by announcing in a speech the plan for a vote sometime between 2015 and 2018, shrugging off warnings that this could imperil Britain's diplomatic and economic prospects and alienate its allies.
Read on -
Now on #DavosToday Jones Lang LaSalle's Colin Dyer http://reut.rs/11QkHRp @Reuters_Davos #WEFby Reuters Insider via twitter 1/23/2013 6:19:04 AM
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Now on #DavosToday #Hermitage's Bill Browder http://reut.rs/11QkHRp @Reuters_Davos #WEFby Reuters Insider via twitter 1/23/2013 6:21:58 AM
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What can Russia teach the G20, anchor Axel Threlfall asks Davos Today guest William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management.
Russia is a shadow of its former self... If oil prices go down, Russia is out of the game, says Browder. Corruption is out of control and it's become an "uninvestable country," he adds. -
Now on #DavosToday Sberbank VP Alexander Bazarov http://reut.rs/11QkHRp @Reuters_Davos #WEFby Reuters Insider via twitter 1/23/2013 6:25:52 AM
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"It's not the cold war anymore...they've just got a bit of oil & some rusty nuclear warheads" #Hermitage's Bill Browder on #Russiaby amyjgardner via twitter 1/23/2013 6:26:14 AM
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"Russian banks can become world's largest commodities traders" Sberbank VP Alexander Bazarov http://reut.rs/11QkHRp #WEF #DavosTodayby amyjgardner via twitter 1/23/2013 6:31:07 AM
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Now on #DavosToday Algebris Investment's Davide Serra http://reut.rs/11QkHRp @Reuters_Davos @davidealgebris #WEFby Reuters Insider via twitter 1/23/2013 6:32:01 AM
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Now on #DavosToday #Hilton Worldwide boss Christopher Nassetta http://reut.rs/11QkHRp @Reuters_Davos #WEFby Reuters Insider via twitter 1/23/2013 6:37:38 AM
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