Davos: a sanatorium for those in denial of capitalism's ills
Before it became famous as the annual gathering place of the leaders of globalisation, Davos was where the well-heeled came to treat their TB. Last night Klaus Schwab, the man who set up the World Economic Forum in the 1970s, said the resort was in a sense reverting to its former use. "Davos will be the sanatorium for the world for the next five days," he said.
His remark summed up the mood at this year's gathering. There is a recognition that all is not right with the world. But after four years of stop-start recovery, rising unemployment, austerity, sovereign debt crises and growing social unrest, you don't need an eight-digit salary to work that out. What there isn't, is a plan for getting out of the mess, or even much of a desire on the part of those doing very nicely out of the current system to start drafting one.
As such tThere are plenty of doom-laden sessions in which panellists are asked whether the capitalism of the 20th century is failing 21st century society.
Schwab said that companies must constantly reinvent themselves and become socially responsible. The message he wanted the meeting to send out to the Occupy protesters huddling in their igloos was that Davos "gets it". But it doesn't: not really.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/25/davos-sanatorium-capitalisms-ills