Davos Economic Forum: setting the agenda for the 2023 Davos Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is gearing up for its annual meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos this week. It will be the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe that the event will return to its former scale last seen in 2020.

In the coming week, 50 heads of state and government from a mix of G20 and G7 countries are due to attend, as well as 200 cabinet ministers and 1,500 business leaders. All in all, 130 countries from around the world will be represented at the meeting in the picturesque town high in the Swiss Alps.

As with every previous meeting, the most pressing issues facing the world today will be up for discussion as the 2,700 invited speakers grapple to find potential solutions.

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Social Services listing: Which countries spend the most and least on social services? - by Katharina Buchholz

The facts are: Social spending as a share of GDP has generally declined in OECD countries over the past decade. "France remains the country most committed to social benefits, with almost a third of French GDP spent on social services by the government in 2019. "Scandinavian countries appear high up on the ranking, with Denmark, Sweden and Norway all spending more than 25%. "The OECD average was 20%.

Read more at: Which countries spend the most and least on social services? | World Economic Forum

Switzerland-Davos: How the Fourth Industrial Revolution can help us prepare for the next natural disaster - Scott L David

In the wake of recent devastating hurricanes, floods, wildfires and earthquakes in North America, the Caribbean, Latin America and South Asia, preparing for natural disasters has never been more urgent. Some estimates suggest flooding damage to coastal cities will cost around US$1 trillion per year by 2050. The cost of naturally-caused forest fires - which exceeded $2billion this year and set a new US record - continues to rise.

The human suffering from these emergencies is beyond calculation. Threats to people and property from acts of nature can’t be prevented. Yet, the second-order vulnerabilities they create can be significantly reduced.

The “fog of indecision,” is one such vulnerability that results from institutional hesitancy to collaborate and share data in emergency settings. It’s something that can’t continue. Inaction will only contribute to avoidable suffering.

The technologies and systems of the Fourth Industrial Revolution offer very powerful assets for responding to natural disasters. With nearly 6 billion mobile phone users worldwide, connected individuals have proven to be one of the most effective and efficient ways of strengthening resilience when disaster strikes.

Likewise, social media, drones, satellite imagery and predictive analytics have all been tremendously helpful for coordinating responses and accelerating the recovery of individuals and communities in the aftermath of recent natural disasters.

Read more: How the Fourth Industrial Revolution can help us prepare for the next natural disaster | World Economic Forum

Switzerland: Davos attendees are in for one of the bleaker WEF meetings of late

The threat of large-scale cyberattacks and a "deteriorating geopolitical landscape" since the election of US President Donald Trump have jumped to the top of the global elite’s list of concerns, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said ahead of its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The growing cyber-dependency of governments and companies, and the associated risks of hacking by criminals or hostile states, has replaced social polarisation as a main threat to stability over the next decade, according to the WEF’s yearly assessment of global risks, published on Wednesday in London. The Davos forum starts on January 23 in the Swiss ski resort.

While the economic outlook has improved, nine in 10 of those surveyed said they expected political or trade clashes between major powers to worsen. About 80% expected an increased chance of war.

"Cybersecurity is the issue most on the minds of boards and executives, given the visibility of state-sponsored attacks in an environment of increasing geopolitical friction," John Drzik, president of global risk and digital at Marsh, which contributed to the study, said in an interview.

"Businesses are increasingly dependent on technology and are aware that the openings hackers have are growing. As they invest in things like artificial intelligence, they are widening their attack surface."

Drzik said recent high-profile security breaches that have fuelled this perception include the WannaCry ransomware attack, which infected more than 300,000 computers across 150 countries, and NotPetya, which caused two companies losses in excess of $300m. The cost of cybercrime to firms over the next five years could reach $8-trillion, the WEF said.

Similarly, thousands of attacks every month on critical infrastructure from European aviation systems to US nuclear power stations show state-sponsored hackers are attempting to "trigger a breakdown in the systems that keep societies functioning," the WEF said.

In the preview, which would suggest Davos attendees are in for one of the bleaker forums in recent memory, almost two-thirds of global leaders saw risks intensifying from 2017. Climate change and extreme weather remained the greatest concerns of those surveyed. Economic worries receded as a unified pick-up in growth and stocks at record highs suggest the world may finally be r

Read more: Davos attendees are in for one of the bleaker WEF meetings of late

Europe’s Declining Influence: Europe’s Growing Illiberalism - by Judy Dempsey

European politicians frozen in time on unity

During the heady months of 2004, Brussels was the place to be. The EU was the organization to join. Europe was brimming with optimism and confidence.

On May 1 of that year, eight countries from Eastern and Central Europe became EU members. Poland’s Mission to the EU threw a marvelous party. There was a cacophony of languages. There was dancing, singing, and a real sense of relief. Poland and other countries in the region had returned to Europe.

There was also a sense that this bigger, united EU was ready to exert its influence beyond its borders. Almost twelve years later, that Europe is hardly recognizable.

Europe has retreated into its shell. With the exception of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, both of whom understand what is happening to Europe, EU leaders are acting as if they have no obligation to defend Europe’s values and the principles of freedom and openness. More worryingly, they don’t seem to care about the EU’s influence in the world.

This is confirmed by a new report by the World Economic Forum called Europe: What to watch out for in 2016-2017. To say it makes grim reading is an understatement. “European leaders must deliver solutions, and fast, if they want to prevent support for the EU [from] imploding in coming years,” the report states.

The EU has always had its share of doomsayers. But what is particularly worrying about this report is the Eurobarometer survey it cites. Respondents were asked what were the most important issues facing the EU at the moment. The first in the list was migration, mentioned by some 58 percent of those surveyed.

The last was the EU’s influence in the world, cited by about 6 percent. What a depressing indictment of Europe’s priorities: influence doesn’t matter.

The report also reflects how the EU’s influence inside Europe is waning, and this is more troubling. If the EU’s role is weakening or if the bloc is less attractive even to its own members, how can the EU have influence beyond its borders?

The EU’s values are under threat in many member states. The Polish, Hungarian, and Slovene publics are intent on upholding the role of the traditional family only months after the Irish, once a bastion of Catholicism, voted in a referendum to legalize gay marriage. Warsaw and Budapest are meddling in the courts and the media—not that Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had any qualms over how he used his media empire to further his own interests.

The members of the Visegrad Group, which consists of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, want nothing to do with the refugees (read Muslims) fleeing the wars in Syria and Iraq. They are not alone. Other countries across Europe are closing their borders too, mostly in response to the growing appeal of populists who are Euroskeptic, oppose immigration, and fear globalization. The November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris gave the populists a boost.

Those issues aside, the refugee crisis has exposed the inability of the EU to deal with the challenge of migration. Above all, it has shown that most European leaders do not see the connection between helping the refugees and the EU’s influence.

Refugees, migrants, and students who are offered the opportunity to live, work, and study in a democratic country give something back to that country if they remain and integrate. As the Economist argued in its January 29 issue, if migrants and students return to their homeland with new skills, they are more likely to do business with the country that welcomed them.

Other reports make similar arguments about Europe’s dwindling influence. The Eurasia Group’s Top Risks 2016 includes a chapter called “Closed Europe.” In it, authors Ian Bremmer and Cliff Kupchan argue that the rise of populism and nationalism, the erosion of the rule of law, and the risks to the Schengen system of open borders are chiseling away at the principles on which the EU was founded. “Closed Europe is first and foremost a Europe that closes itself up to the outside world, and whose countries close themselves up to one another,” the authors write.

Merkel is key to the EU’s future and influence. She has kept the eurozone countries afloat, although the single currency’s woes are far from over. She has kept the EU together in standing up to Russia despite wavering from her Social Democrat coalition partners and other EU leaders. She has tried to preserve Europe’s values of humanity and decency through her open-door policy toward the refugees.

Yet for all that, Merkel has been pilloried by several European leaders. She has been denied the solidarity that Germany had unflinchingly extended to its EU allies when asked. As a report by Citi GPS argues, the basic tenets of the European model of liberal democracy that Merkel is trying to defend are being challenged. And with it, Europe’s influence.
 
Read  more: Europe’s Declining Influence, Europe’s Growing Illiberalism - Carnegie Europe - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Switzerland: Cameron says Europe needs to seize "re-shoring" opportunities

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron told participants at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting that the key challenge for politicians and business leaders in Europe is how to make a success of globalization.

An emerging trend to accomplish this is "re-shoring" jobs, he said. "There is a chance for Britain to become the re-shore nation. Europe needs to act now to seize the opportunities of re-shoring." He said that a major driver of this trend will be the development of shale gas.

For years, the West has been "written off" and rumours abound that it is facing inevitable decline. "It is the same dystopian vision. The East wins while the West loses; the workers lose while the machines win," Cameron said.

\ "I don't believe it has to be this way." He cautioned that the West cannot afford to be "starry eyed" about globalization. He pointed to an emerging trend - re-shoring - where some jobs that were once offshored are coming back, from East to West. "It's time to bring the benefits of globalization home to ensure the benefits are felt by hard-working people in terms of security, stability and peace of mind," he said.

Cameron pointed to a recent survey of small and medium-sized businesses that found more than one in ten has brought some production back to Britain in the past year.

A survey of leading US-based manufacturing companies indicated that more than one-third was planning, or actively considering, shifting production facilities from China to the United States.

One important factor in re-shoring in the US is the development of shale gas.
"This is flooring US energy prices with billions of dollars of energy cost savings predicted over the next decade," Cameron said. These trends can be a "fresh driver" of growth in Europe and across the United Kingdom."Right now economies in Europe have a unique opportunity to accelerate this new trend of jobs coming back home," he said.

But for re-shoring to happen, it is important to uphold the core values of liberal democracy, including the rule of law, freedom of speech and freedom of the media, property rights and accountable institutions. "These are vital foundations for long-term stability commercial success. We need to build on these foundations," Cameron said.

Read more: KUNA : Cameron says Europe needs to seize "re-shoring" opportunities - Economics - 25/01/2014

Davos day 3 - the "talk fest"continues including side shows of Oil protest, Facebook COO on 'girl' T-shirts

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switerzland, has reached day 3 and the talking-shop of the world for global-leader types is showing no signs of slowing down.

On Friday morning, activists supported by Greenpeace decided to have their say. Armed with a big fake polar bear they occupied a Shell service station in the Swiss resort to protest Royal Dutch Shell's oil drilling in the Arctic. They hung a banner: "Arctic Oil – too risky."

The first two days at Davos saw some of our planet's most powerful and influential people voicing their views on the future of the European Union.

Read more: Davos day 3: Oil protest, Facebook COO on 'girl' T-shirts

Davos World Economic Forum: Life in Europe's "squeezed middle",

When the world's business and political elite gathers this week for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, you'll hear a lot of talk about how best to solve the world's economic problems. What you'll almost certainly hear less of is how these solutions might affect -- are affecting -- regular people. In Europe, as in the United States, the global financial crisis has hit tens of millions of people over the past three years: workers have been laid off or had to accept reduced hours or lower wages, houses have been lost, students face paying more to go to university. Even as Europe has begun to grow again, parts are still struggling to deal with the impact of the crisis. Some people and families may have begun to see improvements following months of worry and belt-tightening, but that doesn't mean they will start spending freely again. The instinct to watch budgets, to save more, to avoid overextending, will linger. You may not hear it at Davos, but the plans and hopes of a generation have been scaled back over the past few years, household by household. Even if good times return, that will affect the continent for years to come.

For more: SPECIAL REPORT - Life in Europe's "squeezed middle", IBN Live News