WEF: In defence of Davos
Are the elites flummoxed by the growing rejection of globalisation? Or, as some say, were they well aware of the risks all along?
There is an atmosphere of schadenfreude around the World Economic Forum at the Swiss alpine resort of Davos this year. The storied event has been rocked to its intellectual core by two events in 2016: Brexit and the election of Donald Trump as US president, both of which suggest a wider rejection of globalisation throughout the world. But at least one person disagrees with this meme: FirstRand chairman Laurie Dippenaar. Dippenaar is a veteran at the event, and has been visiting Davos on and off for the past 18 years. He is attending again this year. He believes the event is useful, and he is not put off by the fact that the Davos set has been rocked by setbacks to globalisation, notionally one of the most fervent underlying beliefs of the typical Davos-goer. Looking back at the discussion points that were issues at Davos over the years, many were part of the Davos agenda before they became mainstream — including, surprisingly enough, globalisation, he says. Issues such as climate ch...
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