Some anti-globalization protestors view Klaus Schwab, the seventy-two-year-old German economist who set up Davos forty years ago and still runs it, as the devil incarnate. I prefer to view him as a savvy nightclub promoter or restaurateur, a German version of Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, or Keith and Brian McNally. Back in the nineteen-eighties, when I first moved to New York, people used to queue around the block to get into the McNallys’ latest hotspot, such as Odeon, Canal Bar, or 150 Wooster. But unless you knew the private reservation line or worked on Page Six you had little chance of securing a table.

Davos works on the same principle.

- John Cassidy, The New Yorker

Next up a panel discussion asking if religion is outdated.

While religions are the oldest institutions in the world, they are the slowest to respond to modern issues such as drugs, homosexuality and family relationships. As we move further into the 21st century, it is important to re-examine the place religion holds in the world today.

Are we becoming a multi-faith society or one where many have no faith at all?
How are religious institutions helping instil tolerance and values in society?
How can we reconcile the trends in society's evolution with religious beliefs?
How can we foster freedom of speech and at the same time religious freedom?