Photograph by Tom Wagner/Bloomberg Markets
Workers clean up the Davos Congress Centre after the WEF
It’s a wrap: The fifth and final installment of my Davos blog. I’m writing this in the plane on the way home. Early start again Saturday morning (groan). My final turn in the moderator’s seat as a bunch of WEF...
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It has been prime billionaire hunting season at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week: at least 70 ten-figure fortunes have been mingling among 2,600 politicians and business leaders. More than a dozen billionaires have dropped by the...
Read more »Friday was filled with the sort of incidents that can only happen in Davos. I mean how often have you had a Ukrainian bodyguard try to yank you out of the bathroom by force? My first session of the day...
Read more »Aspen trees are connected below ground through their roots, so an aspen grove can be thought of as a single, giant living organism. W. Brian Arthur, an expert on the economics of technology, thinks human beings are like aspen trees,...
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Photograph by Thomas Lee/Bloomberg
Chinese Workers
In the Harry Potter books, the evil Lord Voldemort is “He Who Must Not Be Named.” American politicians in Davos appear to have their own taboo–acknowledging that China eventually will surpass the U.S. in economic output. Economists say it’s almost...
Read more »“Messy-lateralism” is the word of the day in Davos, at least in climate-change circles. James Cameron, vice-chairman of Climate Change Capital, said Jan. 26 that a messy, incremental, uncoordinated approach–neither unilateralism nor even multilateralism–may be the most realistic way of...
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Photograph by Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Sustainable Transport, Swiss-Style
Luxury of luxuries, I was able to walk to my first session on Thursday morning, which was just as well since the topic was sustainable transportation. Ostensibly, the purpose of the meeting was to get feedback on an enormously detailed...
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Photograph by Picarro Inc.
Visualization of CO2 in Davos
A big slogan around town this year is “Toward A Greener Davos,” the name of a WEF initiative aimed at “lowering the amount of pollutants” produced by the forum’s 2,600 participants and their entourages. This might seem like an exercise...
Read more »For billionaires aficionados, Davos is hallowed ground. More than 70 ten-figure tycoons are believed to be mingling within the World Economic Forum’s Congress Centre. Spotted in the span of one minute this morning: Michael Dell, Viktor Velselberg and Roustam Tariko....
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Photographer: Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg
Agricultural Waste Could Become Fuel
I got to my first session Wednesday morning in the nick of time after being passed on the street by several full shuttle buses. To the outside world, Davos exists in symbol space–a gathering of world leaders one might see...
Read more »While Angela Merkel delivered the Annual Meeting’s opening address on the afternoon of Jan. 25, I found a good number of participants hanging out upstairs in the Congress Centre’s Central Lounge. Among them was Moisés Naím, the former Venezuelan minister...
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