OPINION: The annual World Economic Forum meeting is about to get underway in Davos. European correspondent Hans van Leeuwen and special contributor Peter Holmes a Court go to head-to-head on whether the world should care.
| It’s so easy to be cynical about Davos, the annual gathering this week of the planet’s business and political elite at the World Economic Forum’s chosen Alpine ski village.Davos, the cynical viewSo forgive me: I am going to be cynical. To go to Davos, assuming you have been invited, you need to stump up a five-figure participation fee, max out your card on a truly extortionate hotel bill, and also give up a week of your time.
Taken together, the panels somehow gist themselves into a zeitgeist or vibe. Discerning this vibe is the standard Davos ice-breaker conversation, a bit like being at a wedding and asking “so, how do you know the bride/groom?”.
The least cynical view: the WEF does seem to want to change the world, or at least influence it for the better. They are inspiring folk. I recently met with one of these “Shapes Hubs” in a Kenyan refugee camp. I have travelled to Switzerland with a young South Sudanese refugee whose trip was paid for by the WEF, and three years ago we helped get Mohammed Hassan Mohamud to Davos where, as a Somali refugee, he joined as co-chair of the whole shebang.
Do secret cabals of big business meet here in impossibly expensive restaurants to dine and scheme? Yes. But the same group of libertarian-leaning billionaires is next week in a chalet in Aspen, in summer on a boat in the Med, or seated next to each other on the plane to some party somewhere. They have all the access they need; at least in Davos they are gathering for an event that has a cause other than chasing powder or a new wife.
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