swissinfo’s Matt Allen is keeping track of the action from the floor of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Find him on Twitter @matthewallen40 to weigh in with questions or comments
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It’s a wrap
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We have learned a bit more about the fundamental issues underlying the problems we face. And we have a fair idea of what to expect for the coming 12 months. But the myriad debates and monologues only scratch the surface of WEF. The iceberg underneath is comprised of a series of meetings between government ministers,…
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As observers pick over the aftermath of anti-government unrest in Cairo and other cities, it appears that at least seven people were killed and hundreds hurt. “I want to tell [protesters] that once you have made your voice heard, go back to work. Work hard for yourselves, your people and your families,” Qandil said at WEF.…
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The World Economic Forum has heard two paradoxical and alarming facts about food this week: two million children die every year from starvation while 2.8 million adults literally eat themselves to death. The problem is not so much the overall quantity of food in the world but its uneven distribution. Developed countries have so much…
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The crystal ball will come out tomorrow with esteemed panels of heavyweights telling us the Global Economic Outlook and The Global Agenda 2013. We’ll see how much of that turns out to be right next January. Before that, WEF regular George Soros – a hedge fund veteran renowned for bringing national economies to their knees…
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No suprises then that the subject has been receiving a lot of air time in Davos. Inequality has been boiled down to two broad strands: unemployment and the distribution of wealth. “We have not paid enough attention to inequality,” International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde told delegates, adding that it was corrosive to economic growth and…
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The Arab Spring uprisings that were nearing the conclusion of their most dramatic phase in early 2011 created an atmosphere of both tension and hope. The breathless arrival in Davos of the newly created Tunisian cabinet was a truly dramatic moment. Roll forward 12 months and Greece was about to drop off the edge of…
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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…
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A debate at the Open Forum – a public WEF event – looked at the pros and cons of hosting a mega sporting event. Switzerland is poised to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Maurer ducked questions on how the event could benefit – or burden – Switzerland financially. The government has pledged SFr30 million…
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Johnson’s idea was that “when” Britain pulls out of the EU, it would cosy up with that other notorious EU nay sayer, Switzerland, forming a new super power against the European bloc. All was well yesterday when British Prime Minister David Cameron announced an EU opt out referendum by the end of 2017. But Cameron…
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British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses delegates the day after he promised a referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU. Overlapping his speech will be a debate on the way forward out of the eurozone crisis and then Angela Merkel takes centre stage. I wonder if the German Chancellor will compliment Cameron on…
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The fighting between Malian government troops and Islamic forces sucked in French forces earlier this month. A stream of refugees is escaping the violence across borders. The influx of thousands of refugees will add pressure on already tense situations in other countries and could signal a collapse of social order beyond Mali, ICRC President Peter Maurer told swissinfo.ch The…
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How can UBS change its ways and adopt a new, safer and more socially friendly strategy if it has to deal with a different set of criteria in each country it does business in, he argued. Rather than speeding bank reform, the increasingly diversified regulatory framework is bogging down change, is the gist of his…
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According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 1,330 CEOs, there is greater pessimism about short term economic conditions than last year – when Greece was about to explode with debt. The report contains more statistics than a government review of statistical data compiled by statisticians. But the general takeaway is that only 36 per cent of global…
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