Tag: Davos

Scoop: The grandees headed to Saudi Arabia’s “Davos in the Desert”

Axios logoNever mind the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi — there’s money to be made. That’s the clear message sent by the list of grandees scheduled to attend the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this month.

Axios has obtained a “Draft Narrative Program” for the conference, marked “Not Final — Subject to Change.” Any of the names on the program could therefore still pull out. Those names include heads of state, including Narendra Modi of India and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.

  • The Trump administration is represented by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner. Former Treasury undersecretary David Malpass, now the president of the World Bank, is also on the list, as is former White House communications chief Anthony Scaramucci.

View the complete October 23 article by Felix Salmon on the Axios website here.

At Davos, a reckoning for capitalism as practiced

DAVOS, Switzerland —If a single theme ran through this week, it was acceptance that the capitalist system, of which the attending elites are the masters, is broken. And if they don’t take charge, changes may come that they won’t like.

What brought them to this point is a growing threat of trust-busting, regulation and public opprobrium in both the U.S. and Europe, on top of the residual shock of Brexit and the election of President Trump.

In interviews and speeches, many of them described what is fueling the push for dramatic action:

View the post by Steve LeVine on the Axios website here.

Davos Attendees Wonder, ‘What on Earth Is Donald Trump Up To?’

In 2018, Davos was basking in a robust global economy as Donald Trump pledged that “America is open for business.”

One year on, the U.S. government is partially shut and the market ebullience that greeted the president’s corporate tax overhaul is a distant memory.

In the 12 months since he visited the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps, Trump has launched a trade war with China, slapped tariffs on Europe, weighed in on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, expressed understanding for France’s “Yellow Vest” protests against President Emmanuel Macron and threatened to “devastate” Turkey’s economy.

View the complete January 21 article by David Wainer on the Bloomberg website here.

Trump is laughed at, booed in Davos

The following article by Aaron Rupar was posted on the ThinkProgress website January 26, 2018:

After delivering a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Trump did a brief question-and-answer sessions with WEF Chair Klaus Schwab. The second and final question Trump fielded was about what experiences he had earlier in his life that he thinks prepared him for the presidency.

Trump’s response was not well received. First, he bragged about his business acumen and claimed he’s “always been successful at making money” — comments that elicited laughter for the crowd. But the laughs escalated to boos after Trump took aim at the “fake news” media. Continue reading “Trump is laughed at, booed in Davos”

Davos grapples with inequality

The following article by Michele Gilman, Venable Professor of Law, University of Baltimore, was posted on the Conversation website January 26, 2018:

This year’s World Economic Forum in Davos honored musician and philanthropist Elton John for his contributions to upholding ‘human dignity.’ AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

In accepting an award for his efforts to “uphold human dignity” at the 2018 World Economic Forum, musician and philanthropist Elton Johndecried economic inequality as “disgraceful.” Panelists at the invitation-only conference in Davos, Switzerland, hashed over inequality in line with its theme of “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.”

And in a report released to coincide with the elite confab, the charity Oxfam reported that 82 percent of the wealth created globally last year went to the top 1 percent while the bottom half of humanity, 3.7 billion people, saw absolutely no gains in their wealth. Continue reading “Davos grapples with inequality”

As U.S. Trumpets ‘America First,’ Rest of the World Is Moving On

The following article by Ana Swanson and Jim Tankersley was posted on the New York Times website January 24, 2018:

WASHINGTON — President Trump is arriving at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to explain his “America First” approach at a moment when the world is moving ahead with a trade agenda that no longer revolves around the United States.

The world marked a turning point in global trade on Tuesday, when 11 countries agreed to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, announcing they had finalized the pact and expected to sign a deal on March 8 in Chile. It was a remarkable moment for a beleaguered agreement that was conceived and constructed by the United States, then abandoned by Washington when Mr. Trump took office last year. Continue reading “As U.S. Trumpets ‘America First,’ Rest of the World Is Moving On”

‘America First’ is a hard sell in Davos

The following article by Ishaan Tharoor was posted on the Washington Post website January 25, 2018:

President Trump’s hotly anticipated speech may have been two days away, but his administration was already out in force in Davos on Wednesday. Throughout the day, various U.S. officials and Republican politicians could be seen yucking it up with the globalist elites so reviled by Trump on the campaign trail.

At a panel, Energy Secretary Rick Perry furrowed brows when he equated the export of oil to the export of “freedom.” In the afternoon, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) of the hard-right Freedom Caucus waited patiently in line for a session where he was not guaranteed access. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, appeared somewhat lost amid the larger entourages of world leaders and high-flying business executives. Continue reading “‘America First’ is a hard sell in Davos”