Davos | Terry Bell Writes

Browsing All posts tagged under »Davos«

The green irony at Davos

January 31, 2020

It is ironic that the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum has announced that the “transition to a greener and more equal economy is not just possible but imperative for restoring productivity”. Because the members of this private rich boys' club, representatives of the 1% who comprise the apex of the global wealth pyramid, are primarily responsible for the crisis: they are part of the problem, not the solution.

Davos & the spectre of populism

January 26, 2019

Populism was a spectre haunting the super rich when they met in Davos, Switzerland. this past week. But while this emergence of nationalist, protectionist sentiment does pose a threat to global corporations, it does not threaten the system based on competition and the exploitation of labour. It also carries with it the poison of zenophobia.

Davos: a far cry from responsive & responsible leadership

January 22, 2017

The world’s most expensive and probably most successful public relations exercise concluded in Switzerland this week: the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos. But this private club of some of the richest men in the world is responsible for the very ills they claim to be trying to remedy.

Dealing with the “4th Industrial Revolution”

January 30, 2016

The so-called "Fourth Industrial Revolution" has the potential to free humanity from drudgery and poverty, but only if it is under true democratic control and serves the interests of humanity as a whole. So it is not a matter of demanding changes in mere policy, but in the political system itself.

Davos: dodging the cause of crisis

January 23, 2016

The annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ended this week. And it failed to deal with the main theme it belatedly claimed to be this year’s focus: the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". This perhaps proves the aphorism: “The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.”

Inherent inequality of the World Economic Forum

January 25, 2015

The annual World Economic Forum (WEF) extravaganza got underway last week. It is not the UN-style institution it is often portrayed as being. It is a private club where the heads of immensely rich corporations wine, dine, bribe and bully various power brokers and wannabe tycoons to do their bidding and to adopt policies that suit the corporate world.

The transformative farce of Davos

January 31, 2014

Calling on the richest people in the world to transform the economic system seems to amount to the extraordinary belief that "the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of us all”.

Davos and the search for a real alternative

January 26, 2012

The annual Davos bunfight got underway again this week. But this gathering of the super rich and the guests they hope to bribe, bully and otherwise persuade to help shore up a system in crisis is unlikely to produce much that is worthwhile.