Next week’s Davos WEF likely to reveal more globalisation angst
Geneva — The man behind the annual Davos forum who, for decades, has been singing the praises of global trade insists that globalisation is only one factor in dramatic shifts provoking angst and anger. Klaus Schwab, the 78-year-old founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), said he understood that rapid changes in our societies were provoking anxiety, but stressed that globalised trade was not the sole culprit. "It’s not just a backlash against globalisation," he said. "What we are witnessing is a time of enormous change." Rapid shifts in technology, economies and social structures have fuelled "a certain anxiety of the people, [who] are looking for an identity in this new world," he said. This year’s Davos meetings take place next week, and Schwab’s comments come after a wave of anti-establishment populism over the past year, which saw Britain vote to leave the EU and maverick billionaire businessman Donald Trump elected as US president. Other populists have ...
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