Big guns go pop
The star turns of this year's WEF forum have failed to deliver any real punch, but were content to mutter at each other from opposite corners.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had a mild dig at Britain’s aloofness towards the European Union. Britain, in response, accused the EU of being uncompetitive and getting it wrong on austerity measures. So far, so uneventful.
Then the bombshell for Switzerland: a renewed crackdown on tax evaders from a new source – the G8 group of extremely powerful nations. If you need to vent your frustration, do it on someone who can’t kick you back, the Swiss will doubtless feel.
The second half of the day was devoted to social inequality, and guess what – it not only still exists, but is getting worse.
This is a point not lost on the Public Eye renegades – the group that annually names and shames misbehaving corporates right on WEF’s doorstep. This year it was Shell and Goldman Sachs.
Former US financial regulator William Black was also there on hand to lambast the current crop of law makers. Throw all bankers in jail, he told me.
A curious speech by World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee on Friday. He will explain what’s wrong with social networking. Really? Is there something wrong?
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