World Economic Forum (WEF), Davos Switzerland, 2013

Francis was again invited to speak at the WEF.  So, by extension, I get to tag along.  (One of those times when I deeply appreciate the opportunity to play the spouse gig.  The organizers understand that partner inclusion ups the likelihood of invitees accepting AND staying for the duration.)  I find this meeting fascination at many levels; the content delivered by speakers; the mixing in the lounges, at receptions, and after parties that is simultaneously sought out and scoffed at by participants; the heavy logistics that are required for this to take place and, without a doubt, the celebrity factor.  I’m a bit late posting, but will try and share something from each of these categories.

 Day 1 - Wednesday January 23

Mario Monti, Prime Minister of Italy speaks for 30 minutes without mentioning Silvio Berlusconi.  He refers to ‘the past 14 months’; the ‘debt of inherited policies’; and says he identifies with the Italian PM at the WWII Paris Peace Conference who said, “I feel that everything but your personal sympathy is against me”.   He is clearly working to bring Italy back into EU good graces.  His best applause line - “The EU does not need unwilling Europeans”.

 

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund - purposeful, intense and all her content was meaningful.  She bookended her remarks with references to the Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban and the student who was raped and murdered in New Delhi, demonstrating her belief that the role of the IMF is to make a difference in individual lives.  She outlined four trends that will shape the global economy going forward, which she views as opportunities; understanding that many see them as vulnerabilities.
1)      growing demand for individual empowerment (women)
2)      realignment of political and economic powers across the world
3)      seismic shift in demographics with the youth bulge bumping up against a graying population
4)      increased vulnerability to resource drain and climate change
She encouraged the gathering to embrace the values of the younger generation: openness, inclusiveness (including inclusive growth) and better accountability (good government).  In a flat world there are no economic silos (no place to hide) and crisis economies are contagious.  The average debt to GDP ratio in developed countries is 110%.  Her applause line, “By linking arms we are unlinking arms.”
 

More cultural offerings this year and I attend a walking tour with the artist of this installation.  What may not be apparent is that these colorful circles have dozens of little googly eyes stuck on them. 
 
Participant A: So, you’re saying that at Davos you are watching and being watched?
Artist: No
Participant B: You’re referencing the Greek god, Argus (many-eyed)?
Artist: No
And no further information offered by the artist about what this work means to him.

Day 2 - Thursday, January 24

photo credit: amazon.com

In a panel discussing the Arab Spring and its subsequent challenges (lack of infrastructure, rival factions, stalled efforts) Tom Friedman, NYT’s Foreign Affairs Correspondent, said that two things are clear.  The tiger (representing the Arab people) is not going back in the cage and the tiger eats only meat (not the empty statements that their governments have offered for decades).  He also made the point that a democracy is only as healthy as its opposition (press, etc.) and healthy opposition is not yet in place in many Middle Eastern and North African countries.
 

image credit: wikipedia.com

Session with Katy Borner on how to create conceptual frameworks for visualizing complex and evolving data systems.  One example she used is Minard’s map (1869), visualizing the impact (route and lives lost) of Napoleon’s Russian campaign of 1812.  This was one of the few sessions Francis and I attended together and we were both enthralled with the potential application of such flow maps to visualizing biomedical endeavors.  Francis snagged her afterwards and invited her to come to NIH this year. 
 

credit Savingfacefilm.com

Viewed the 2012 Academy Award winning documentary, Saving Face: Women of Pakistan and subsequent discussion with the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy about battery acid attacks on women and progress toward criminalizing these acts.
 

At the end of the day found Francis and we stopped by the Coca Cola Reception and ran into Tyler Spenser (Staunton boy whom Francis knows, now at Oxford) and his friend, Josh, from Alabama.  Tyler was a WEF Young Global Leader last year and is back this year without credentials (no ID for entry into Congress Center) – he and Josh are snowboarding during the day (how does a guy from Alabama learn to snowboard?), crashing the free receptions at night and setting up interviews with prominent individuals who are attending.  I am in awe of their initiative and moxie. Francis and I decide we can handle one more event and head over to the Microsoft Reception.

 

Day 3 – Friday, January 25

This is the shuttle station where one arrives and departs Congress Center to and from hotels or train stations.  Exhaustion has set in.  The crowd thins, the back section of chairs in the central auditorium has been removed and shuttle conversation turns to how much people are sleeping in.  I end up on the same shuttle as Josh and Tyler, who are just appearing (Noon) after shutting down the McKinsey party at 3:00 am.  This is Josh’s first time snowboarding -- he is stiff, sore and glad not to be going onto the mountain today.
 

H.M. King Abdulla II is interviewed by Fareed Zakaria (author, columnist, CNN host).  I cringe recalling not recognizing Fareed on a shuttle last year and blithely asking ‘What brings you to Davos?’.  The King gives his synthesis that divisions in the Arab world date back to the cold war era when monarchies aligned with western countries (trade arrangements, students, etc.) and republics aligned with USSR (weapons).  He believes that dynamic is still playing out in the various factions.  There is high interest in yesterday’s national elections in Jordan, where turnout was at least 50% and objective observers are saying the process was basically fair.

 

Will Washington Work?

A session with Adriana Huffington, Alan Murray (Pew Foundation); Darrell Issa (R-California); Governor John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado); David Rubenstein (philanthropist); and moderated by David Gergen.  Oversubscribed session, but Francis and I both made it inside the room.  We were surprised by the negative comments regarding Obama’s inaugural address (too partisan, too liberal, not an olive branch, ‘giving speeches is not the same as governing’, jobs have disappeared from the White House agenda).  Are they in the bubble or are we?  Murray discussed Pew data demonstrating increased polarization in Congress over past 25 years.  50% of US graduates cannot find employment commensurate with their degrees.  Huffington made an interesting point about political attack ads -- they diminish the product market for democracy.  Coke and Pepsi don’t engage in attack ads, because they work and both would lose market share.  Instead they opt for encouraging the broader market share of soda drinks.  The economic growth rate in is 2% in the US and 7% in China.  In 1950 US economy was 50% of the world economy, today it is 19%.  Francis stalked Congressman Issa after the panel and eventually got some face time.

 Preview of, and discussion with director of, Long Walk to Freedom to be released this summer, based on the autobiography of Nelson Mandela, produced by South African Anant Singh.

 

Francis and I send a photo postcard to First Friday in celebration of Woodrow Evans, Alan and Brigid’s first grandchild, born in Boston yesterday.

 Man Verses Machine

Francis moderated this dinner discussion.  Here he is with two presenters Matthieu Ricard, Director Karuna-Shechen, France, and Amishi Jha, Director of Contemplative Neuroscience, University of Miami.  I was at Matthieu table and, as he wrote his email address on a scrap of paper so that I could send him this photo, said, ‘I came as a mindless monk, without business cards.’

Day 4 – Saturday, January 26

It seems to be the general consensus that unemployment amongst youth is the greatest destabilizing factor in our world (attributed to acid attacks in Pakistan, unrest in Middle East, emergence of radical groups, national tensions, etc.)
 

Over heard at Davos in the coffee lounge…
“…so I’m bringing my kids to China for an intensive Mandarin course …”
 “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation; I run the Oxford Free University Program…”
“There’s an after-party after the after-party?”
French businessman to German reporter arriving late for their interview, “I thought Germans were punctual … so much for that!”
“He said, ‘I’ll see what I can do’ in a not totally convincing way”.
“I went to four parties last night; tonight I’m only going to one.”