With globalism in retreat, have Davos elites gotten the message?
| Paris
For nearly half a century the Masters of the Universe 鈥� business titans, political heavyweights, the global great and the good 鈥� have gathered at the start of each year at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. There they have pondered and pontificated on the future of the world.
This week they are back again. And they don鈥檛 like what they see.
From their Alpine perch, the prospects for the world鈥檚 financial and political elites over the past five decades have generally been fairly promising; their touchstone liberal values such as globalization, free trade, and multilateralism have long governed world affairs.
Today, this 鈥淒avos consensus鈥� is under withering assault. Incoming President Donald Trump shares none of these values, and nationalist, protectionist politicians are gathering strength across Europe. And there are signs that some participants at this year鈥檚 forum are prepared to admit that Davos might be as much a part of the problem as it is part of the solution.
That's because the Davosian approach to the international economy has not brought the world broad-based economic growth with fairly distributed rewards. It has made the sort of people who come to Davos richer; they are the winners. But in the United States and Europe an increasing number of disillusioned, insecure, and often angry voters see themselves as losers, and globalization as a threat, not a blessing.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense of danger,鈥� says Yves Tiberghien, an expert in global governance at the University of British Columbia. 鈥淲e could be facing the collapse of the liberal global order.鈥�
'They are listening now'
Punit Renjen, the CEO of the worldwide auditing firm Deloitte, recognized the change of global mood in a blog he posted on the World Economic Forum website titled 鈥淏usiness leaders, this is your wake-up call.鈥�
鈥淰oters have sent an unequivocal message: the status quo is no longer acceptable,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淏usiness 鈥� particularly big business 鈥� has played an undeniable role in creating this untenable situation.鈥� Companies should treat their employees better, he argued, and find ways of creating opportunities for people normally denied prosperity.
Guy Standing, a left-wing professor at the University of London, says he 鈥渇elt my message was getting across鈥� when he gave a well attended talk Tuesday about the dangerous worldwide growth of what he calls 鈥渢he precariat,鈥� a class of people without job security or a steady income.
鈥淭he corporate elite and the political establishment are recognizing now that Trump鈥檚 election and the Brexit vote are reflections of what I am writing about, and they are reaching out for a better understanding,鈥� says聽Professor Standing.
鈥淭hey are very scared,鈥� he adds. 鈥淲hat I say may not be comfortable, but they are listening now, and they weren鈥檛 a year ago.鈥�
There have been some surprising interventions. Larry Summers, the archetypal 鈥淒avos Man鈥� (former World Bank chief economist, US Treasury secretary, Harvard president), lambasted politicians for protecting multinationals鈥� money-making intellectual property rights while doing little to stop them hoarding their profits in tax havens.
If governments had reversed those priorities, he suggested, 鈥渋t would be easier to persuade middle class people that they should be interested in the project of global integration.鈥�
Just lip service?
It is by no means clear, though, that Davos participants will actually do much about any of this when the echoes of the after-dinner chatter have died away.
鈥淎t Davos they always speak nicely,鈥� says Professor Tiberghien, 鈥渂ut when they get home they do not take action to preempt problems or reduce inequality.鈥�
鈥淒onald Trump鈥檚 election should be an inspiration for business leaders to wrestle harder with long-term solutions鈥� for problems such as alienation and inequality, argues Alan Wheatley, associate fellow at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. 鈥淏ut it would be a surprise were they to do so.鈥�
Danny Sriskandarajah, head of an international alliance of civil society groups, is attending Davos for the fifth time, but says he is wondering whether it is worth it.
Corporate and political leaders are certainly alarmed by the current wave of populism, he says, but they are concerned about 鈥渉ow they can push their agenda in the new era, how they can adapt and survive, not about how we can change the lay of the land to address the root causes of public anger.鈥�
In a panel discussion Wednesday about 鈥渉ow to fix the middle class crisis,鈥� International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde reminded her audience that four years ago, in her opening speech to the 2013 Davos meeting, she had warned of a backlash against the excessive economic and social inequality that globalization had fostered.
Nobody paid much attention then, she lamented. But 鈥渋f policymakers don鈥檛 get the signal now,鈥� she added, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know when they will.鈥�
