Davos 2010 ends with few plans in place

World Economic Forum

This year's World Economic Forum, which came to an end yesterday, is already being described by some as nothing more than a damp squib on the financial services' calendar - at least compared to last year, when the annual meeting in Davos dominated global headlines.

For many, the annual meeting - this year its 40th - which manages to gather some of the world's most powerful business leaders and politicians, was this year something of a failure, especially given that the four day event failed to form any new plans or reach real achievements. In fact, according to the BBC, the only real achievement that sparked any furore in the news was the agreement that job creation and free trade had to be key ingredients of any economic recovery.

Blindsighted

Admittedly, the meeting came during the same week when headlines were dominated by both ex-UK prime minister Tony Blair's questioning at the Irag Inquiry and the ongoing struggle in Haiti, but considering the crazed attention global economic recovery seemed to be getting as little as six months ago, it seems odd that the Forum in Davos didn't generate more coverage.

Then again, perhaps "business as usual" was just what the forum needed. According to BBC News Editor Tim Weber, "One forum old-timer told me, 'Davos has not many politicians this year, and the better for it', and his comment was echoed by other executives."

In fact, a late cancellation from German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle left something of an embarrassing gap in the Saturday schedule, reports said. What's more, this (now empty) prime speaker slot - once dominated by the likes of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - was just one example of a lack of "presence" at the forum.

And, for all the business talk being bandied about, the general opinion about this year's meeting was that it was "less about politics and more about people." Larry Summers, economic advisor to US President Barack Obama, summed the feeling up best of all: "The world is not experiencing a statistical economic recovery, but a human recession."

Lack of results

Ultimately though, it is the lack of results from the forum that are most likely to make headlines this week. That's because much of the discussions held over the four day event seemed to centre on the failings of the financial system and (not) how to fix it. In fact, meetings often seemed to descend into nothing more than a denouncing of high-paid banking executives, reports the BBC: an issue that has heavily been covered by both the press and the financial services industry already.

Perhaps most worryingly, Davos also highlighted that so-called regulators are not anywhere near to agreeing the actual details of any form of "regulation" - only that another financial crisis could only be averted if there was some kind of global framework for financial regulation, a topic that had already been touched on at the meeting in 2009.

Related Articles

Sarkozy sparks new debate | Recession ends for the UK | King backs calls for reform

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: