Davos, Switzerland
I am writing you again from Davos, this village high up in the Alps. I have written you seven times from here — seven times running. And Davos is more beautiful than ever: full of snow, like one of those shake-up globes, or some Disney version of Switzerland. The Disney version of Switzerland is true, trust me. If you heard a yodel from a braided lass, you wouldn’t bat an eye. It would be practically expected.
By the way, when people say “Davos” — at least in a political-cultural-economic context — they mean the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. And that’s where we are. (Forgive that royal “we,” would you? I sort of meant readers and me.) (I know it’s technically “readers and I,” to go with “we” — please get off my back, I haven’t begun yet.)
‐Let me begin by quoting some advance press, some pre-conference press. This is from the International Herald Tribune:
Politicians, not corporate titans, are poised to be the big draw this year, echoing the broader power shift away from the free market as one government after another tries to prop up its sinking economy.
This time, the prototype of the jet-setting “Davos Man” may well be Gordon Brown, the dour British prime minister, who spent last week staving off another round of bank failures in London.
And with much of the financial system in Britain and the United States edging toward a possible government takeover, the 2009 agenda at Davos, “Shaping the Post-Crisis World,” seems to have concentrated minds on the here-and-now more than past themes like climate change and globalization.
“The pendulum has swung and power has moved back to governments,” said Klaus Schwab, the German-born economics professor who founded the World Economic Forum in 1971 and has been its impresario ever since. “This is the biggest economic crisis since Davos began.”
That is not unsobering. We further read,
Some invitees do not want to test Schwab’s hospitality. John Thain, the former chief executive of Merrill Lynch, abruptly canceled [his attendance at the meeting] after being pushed out on Thursday from a top job at Bank of America, which acquired Merrill last year. Thain, a Davos regular who once ran the New York Stock Exchange, was to have participated in a panel on Saturday called “The Bank of the Future.”
But,
[o]f course, when it comes to economizing at Davos, everything is relative. At BB Heli, which provides helicopter service to Davos, business is still strong, but more passengers are opting for a single-engine helicopter rather than the faster twin-engine model, said Marcus Baumann, the general manager. So instead of paying 9,800 francs for the 45-minute flight, the cost is cut to 4,900.
I, for one, would never travel in any but the twin-engine model. (Just kidding. I go by bus — from Zurich, that is.) (I remember what Adolf Busch said, about early string-quartet traveling. Or was it Sasha Schneider? In any case, one of them said, “Ve vent by bus.” Darn right. Today’s classical musicians are such whiners.)
A bit more from the IHT:
Along with Brown and Wen [the Chinese boss], other top political figures set to come include Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. All together, the leaders of at least 40 countries will make it up the mountain, up from 27 last year and 20 in 2007.
President Barack Obama is a little too busy to attend, however.
Can Davos occur without the One? We’ll see.
And now let’s have some words from the Wall Street Journal:
The five-day confab, which has signed up about 2,500 participants, will be a more sober affair than usual, organizers say. There are fewer gimmicks — such as scents pumped into session rooms last year by a high-profile perfumer — fewer movie stars have been invited, and fewer lavish parties are being thrown by governments and companies. Goldman Sachs won’t be holding its usual party this year. “In the current environment, we didn’t think it was appropriate,” says spokesman Lucas van Praag.
I have no doubt. But Davos 2009 is no Hooverville, let me tell you. You would not mistake the Promenade — the main thoroughfare — for the Bowery.
More Journal:
“This may be the first Davos where capitalism is widely viewed as a failure, rather than something to be admired,” says Ethan Kapstein, professor of economics and political science at [the] French business school Insead, who has been going to Davos since 1994.
In a sign of the times, many of the financial elite present at past sessions won’t be coming this year. Richard Fuld Jr., CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in the fall, won’t be back this year, according to the organizers. Nor will John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co., who was forced to resign by Merrill’s new owner Bank of America last week. One point of contention was that he had scheduled a trip to Davos, even though Bank of America had signaled it would not be a good idea for him to attend.
More:
“The capitalist myth is lovely and youthful. It kicked off the industrial revolution, but maybe we need a new one,” says Richard Olivier, son of the late British actor Sir Laurence Olivier. Mr. Olivier, who owns a company that gives seminars, will give a dinner talk on business leadership at Davos, based on Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. The tale shows a heroic soldier turned bad, led to self-delusion by his own ambition and greed — think Lehman Brothers, says Mr. Olivier.
Actually, the “capitalist myth” has made life materially better — and, you could argue, mentally and spiritually better — for untold billions of people (including Richard Olivier).
Andy Stern, the president of the notorious SEIU — the Service Employees International Union — has sounded off, in a big way. He is quoted in MarketWatch:
“This is not just another Davos,” said Andy Stern . . .
A regular foe of private-equity firms and an advocate of tougher regulation of businesses and markets, Stern will make his first trek to the mountain resort for the annual gathering. Stern said he hopes the current economic turmoil will result in a “humbling and mind-opening moment” for many of the forum’s regular attendees.
“These experts have failed the citizens of the globe. They have wrought economic havoc with financial manipulation, greed and deregulation,” he said, in a telephone interview. “I don’t know if it will do any good, but there is a need for straight talk and ending the backslapping, self-congratulatory noblesse-oblige attitude that I think has been more prevalent in the past.”
Lectures in moral conduct from SEIU (and economic conduct, for that matter)? That would indeed by humbling.
‐I’m going to tell you who some of the guests are — some of the attendees. In years past, I have listed them by group: heads of state and government; foreign ministers; finance ministers; CEOs and innovators; literary bigs; artistic and athletic bigs; and so on. This year, I think I’ll do some listing in alphabetical order — which is weenie-ish, but which I hope you won’t mind. I should say, too, that I’m working off a “Preliminary List of Participants.” Some might have scratched, à la Thain, but I doubt it.
A lot of people here have a name that ends in “al-Saud.” They seem to be princes. There is Didier D. Adès, editor-in-chief of Radio France. Do you know the (youngish) British composer Thomas Adès? He started out as Ades — but added the accent. There is Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place. Don’t know about his tennis game.
Kofi Annan. Paola Antonelli, a curator at MoMA — what a beautiful name. H.S.H. Prince Henri d’Arenberg of Belgium — don’t know much about Belgian royalty. Oscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica. Remember when he was given the Nobel Peace Prize, for opposing Reagan in Central America? (I’m just being super-blunt, in the interest of efficiency.) Michelle Bachelet, the president of Chile. Jorge E. Ballesteros Zavala — don’t know if he’s any relation to my golf hero. A Peter Bauer, though not the late Lord Bauer (alas). Sen. Evan Bayh, who has been talked about as a presidential candidate or vice-presidential candidate since 1908. (Just kidding.) Hilary Benn, of the British government — don’t know what his relation to Tony is.
Nicolas Berggruen, whose name reminds me of a National Review colleague, Robert VerBruggen. There is an Erik Bettermann, and an Ulrich L. Bettermann. One of them needs his own comedy show: Late Night with Ulrich L. Bettermann. Tony Blair (not to be confused with Tony Benn). Sergey Brin, of Google. Ángel Cabrera, not the famous golfer, but the president of the Thunderbird School. Felipe Calderón, the president of Mexico. David Cameron, British PM-in-waiting. Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia. Paulo Coelho, the Brazilian author who has sold a zillion copies. (I expect to read one of those copies one day.) Cristóbal Conde — not of Condé Nast, but of SunGard. Stephanie Czerny, a businesswoman in Germany, who reminds me I’m behind on my piano exercises. Elizabeth Daley, dean of the “School of Cinematic Arts” at USC. Is that like the movies?
Michael Dell. Christopher Dodd, Housing Czar of America. Mohamed ElBaradei, another of those Nobel Peace Prize winners. (How’s the effort to stop Iran going?) Philippe Favre, a French CEO who may or may not be able to throw a spiral. Two Forbes brothers, Steve and Bob. Melinda French Gates and her husband, who is in software, apparently. Peter Gabriel. Philippe Germond, moonlighting from The McLaughlin Group. Gillani, the prime minister of Pakistan. (He pronounces it with a hard “G” — I got it from the horse’s mouth last year in Sharm El Sheikh.) Sir Clive Gillinson, the Englishman who runs Carnegie Hall. Jim Goodnight, who really needs some sort of after-hours show. Al Gore — another of those Nobel Peace Prize winners.
John McCain’s friend Lindsey Graham. Phil Gramm, representing, not Texas, but UBS. Hugh Grant, the Monsanto chief, not the actor. The Crown Prince of Norway. Michael Haefliger, a music administrator who is the son of the marvelous late tenor Ernst Haefliger. Jet Li, who is not an airline, but the founder of One Foundation in China. Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London who thinks that Bush and Blair should be tried for war crimes (and who supported Barack Obama in the presidential race). (Thanks, BoJo!) President Karzai of Afghanistan.
President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic. (How long will it be before I stop wanting to say “Czechoslovakia”? Well, Paul Johnson still says — and writes — “the Lebanon” and the like.) Lesley-Anne Knight, secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis, who, if she teamed with Jim Goodnight, could have The Knight-Goodnight Show. Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister. Henry Kravis, the New York money-man. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. (No Republican judges to block, so he can be over here.) Yves Leterme, prime minister of Belgium. Rick R. Little, CEO of Silatech, doing his impressions. Jack Ma Yun, a Chinese CEO, whose name is something else. Graça Machel, the former First Lady of Mozambique and, since 1998, the wife of Nelson Mandela.
Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister of Iraq. Rustam N. Minnikhanov, prime minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. Sunil Bharti Mittal, a big businessman from India. Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. (Really? I’ll believe it when I see it. Davos’s man from Israel is usually Shimon Peres.) Indra Nooyi, boss of Pepsico (i.e., the Donald Kendall of our time). “Christopher Francis Patten of Barnes,” Chancellor of Oxford — I believe he’s the guy we used to know as Chris Patten. Henry Ross Perot, Jr. Alessandro Profumo, a CEO about whom any scandal would be known as . . .
Vladimir Putin. Queen Rania of Jordan. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Britain and the Commonwealth — did you know there was such a position? Will he have much of a flock to watch over in Britain, on present trends? Xavier Sala-i-Martín, the econ prof at Columbia. (I’ve always loved that name.) Barham Salih, the (indispensable) deputy PM of Iraq. Governor Sanford of South Carolina. Naguib O. Sawiris, a go-getting businessman who I believe is the richest man in Egypt, and one of the richest in the world. Reuben Joseph September, a CEO in South Africa — very interesting name. Francesco Serafini of Hewlett-Packard in Switzerland — beautiful name, Serafini (meaning “Angels”).
Ruth J. Simmons, president of Brown University. Five people named Singh, but not the prime minister of India. Seven people named Smith, eight if you count one Smyth. George Soros. David Stern, the commissioner of basketball. Thomas Stewart, not the baritone but the “Chief Marketing & Knowledge Officer” of Booz & Company. Sunette Steyn of the University of South Africa — no relation to Mark, to my knowledge. (Lovely name, Sunette Steyn.)
(Let me break for a quick story. We were on NR’s British Isles cruise, a few years ago. The Pryce-Joneses and I were touring the museum in Belfast. There were paintings by one Stella Steyn. When we got back to the ship, David quipped to Mark, “We saw paintings by your aunt Stella today.” Mark answered, “Actually, she was my great-aunt.”)
Sir Howard Stringer, head of Sony. John Sweeney, head of the AFL-CIO. Donald Tusk, prime minister of Poland. Uribe the Great, from Colombia. (You didn’t expect me not to editorialize, did you?) Ann Veneman, a former Bush 43 cabinet member, now at UNICEF. Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia — cool name, very cool idea. Three Wallenbergs from Sweden — wonder what relation they are to one of the greatest men of the 20th century. Martin Wolf, the econ arbiter at the Financial Times. Muhammad Yunus, known to the world as the Bangladeshi “micro-banker” who won the Nobel Peace Prize, but known to a few — such as those around the Metropolitan Opera — as the father of the young soprano Monica.
Valdis Zatlers, the president of Latvia. The former Mexican president with the seriously beautiful name: Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León. Bob Zoellick, now president of the World Bank. And Mark Zuckerberg, not of Gloria Steinem/New York real estate/U.S. News/“smart liberalism” fame — that’s Mort Zuckerman — but of Facebook fame. He founded the sucker, and CEOs it.
Oh, hang on, forgot one — I’m out of order: Edward O. Wilson, “the ant guy,” as an old boss of mine used to call him (i.e., the entomologist and big-brain thinker).
(P.S. I’m sure I forgot many, many.) (For example, I forgot Prince Andrew and the prime minister of Turkey — but I’ll drop this for now.)
‐Speaking of forgetting, I meant to include another news item, above — this one from the New York Post:
Gov. David A. Paterson, seeking to contain some of the fallout over his administration’s handling of the United States Senate appointment, said on Monday that he had canceled a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this week. . . .
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, asked at a City Hall news conference about Mr. Paterson’s decision to cancel his trip, responded with humor:
“I used to go to Davos years ago and eventually stopped going. It’s useful for some people and it’s enjoyable. I personally prefer to ski in the United States. There’s a lot of fog — they have these fog poles coming down the trails, there’s no off-piste skiing.”
The reporters laughed.
Well, whatever tickles your funny bone. “Whatever blows your skirt up,” as I’ve heard my sister say.
(P.S. I’ll grant you that “off-piste” is a funny word.)
‐The title of the Annual Meeting this year is “Shaping the Post-Crisis World.” And I will cite a few of the panels, giving a taste of the program overall. (Again, I have to caution: I’m working off a “preliminary” list. But I believe these are pretty much set.)
We have “Controlling Climate Change” — one of President Obama’s specialties, as you know. We have “Dealing with Dangerous Demographics” — one of Mark Steyn’s specialties. Wish he were here to discourse. “The Return of State Power.” Oh, yes. But a lot of us have thought that state power never exactly went away.
“Right-Brain Crisis, Left-Brain Recovery” — sounds kind of interesting (or at least the title is cute). “How Does Science Happen?” All the more important, now that the American voter has “restored” it to its “rightful place.” (Gag me with a you-know-what.) Richard Olivier gives his “Leadership Lessons” from Macbeth, and also from As You Like It. (Wish Paul Johnson were here to do it with him — no one talks more interestingly about Shakespeare, and what he has to tell us, enduringly.)
A session called “Fragility in the Fourth Estate” features the participation of Steve Forbes. When I first read “Can You Trust Your Model?” I thought of whether you can rely on your thin, fashion-conscious, pouty girlfriend. “Afghanistan and Pakistan: Two Critical Countries.” Oh, yes. “Nanotechnology” brought to mind the late Adm. Grace Hopper (and particularly her appearances on popular American talk shows).
“The Mystery of the Dollar” — come to think of it, I’m rather mystified by America’s currency myself. “China’s International Agenda” — I’m afraid there won’t be much opposition to that here in Davos. “IdeaLabs with Oxford University” — at last, a chance for an Oxford education, in brief!
“The New U.S. Administration: Can It Meet the Expectations of the World?” (The world has expectations?) Christiane Amanpour is moderating that one. Participants include Mohamed ElBaradei and Barney Frank. I wonder whether ElBaradei has sounder ideas about the housing crisis. Frank, I feel sure, has sounder ideas about nuclear proliferation, especially in the Middle East.
When I saw “The World According to Russia,” I thought, “Whom in Russia?” The government, only? And this looked interesting: “Cloud Computing: The Next Big Thing.” It is being chaired by Jonathan Zittrain, a “Young Global Leader” here and a serious brain. “Growth via Travel and Tourism” includes the participation of a man from Hyatt. And this title, I found a little chilling: “Reality Mining: Changing Behaviour.” Google’s Brin is on that one.
“Latin America’s Economic Imperative” will have four national leaders: Arias (Costa Rica), Bachelet (Chile), Calderón (Mexico), and Uribe (Colombia). Amazing — that these people come to Switzerland to hold what amounts to a Latin American summit.
A panel on the Capitol Hill agenda includes Democrats only, except for Senator Graham (Lindsey, not Bob — he’s retired). I suppose that’s as it should be. There is also “The Politics of Water” — boring, boring, but, as I’ve said in Davos scribbles past, extremely important.
And this looked highly interesting: “The Girl Effect on Development.” “An educated girl will invest 90% of her future income in her family, yet little more than half a cent of every international development dollar is spent on her.” Discussants about that are Bob Zoellick, Nike CEO Mark Parker, and Queen Rania.
And “off the books,” so to speak — not part of the formal World Economic Forum — there will be a “Philanthropy Roundtable,” around whose table will be Clinton (Bill), Blair, Branson, and Yunus.
‐Speaking of Sergey Brin, I’ve done a little Googling — after-the-fact Googling, you might say. Hilary Benn is the son of Tony. And, checking that Michael Haefliger is indeed the son of Ernst, I learned that Ernst, the tenor, was born right here in Davos. Interesting. Also, Graça Machel? The only woman — so far as we know — to be First Lady of two different countries.
‐A quick gastronomical note: Swiss food is rather heavy — meant to be consumed after working (or playing) hard outdoors, when it is very cold. But what if you sit on your hiney and type? In any case, this food is unusually delicious.
‐A quick shopping note: A few years ago, I lost a mitten — I believe I lost it here, can’t remember. I bought a pair of Reusch mittens in town. Very expensive, and very good. I managed to keep them until — three days ago. I came here with one Reusch mitten and one glove (also missing its match). I decided, “What the heck?” — and went in to a shop to buy another pair of Reusches. For the cost of a new washer and dryer in America, a pair of mittens in Davos can be yours.
I hope I retain both of them through, oh, February . . .
‐Have you ever seen a tip jar next to a cash register in a clothing store? They have them here. An interesting cultural difference.
‐I still can’t get over the fact that, when you ask for a hot chocolate here in Switzerland, they give you a packet of powder. As David Pryce-Jones remarked, when I told him about it: “Appalling — you could even say ‘degenerate.’” Just so.
‐But who can complain when the Swiss Alps are cradling you? I’ll sign off now, complaintlessly, thanking you for joining me for (a terribly long) Part I, and inviting you back for Part II.