25 January 2002

Another world It's worth reading the Another World is Possible website to understand the opposition to the World Economic Forum. "The WEF is essentially a multimillion dollar cocktail party in which the financiers and racketeers of global capitalism brainstorm and informally plan the imposition of 'free market' imperatives upon the rest of the globe. These imperatives further aid in the destruction of the environment, the exploitation of workers internationally and locally, the erosion of human, animal, and worker rights, and the forceful replacement of native cultures with a monolithic corporate consumer culture. Finally, the WEF is a mechanism by which the cycles of classism, racism, and sexism are indirectly reproduced and spread." Other than the multimillion dollar cocktail party jibe, I don't recognise any of this (but I'll admit to a long history of incomprehension of this extremist end of the anti-capitalist movement). Maybe I've been going to the wrong sessions in Davos for ten years. Interestingly, the site does contain a reasonably up-to-date list of Davos in New York participants, and a statistical breakdown. 10:38:39 AM

Sugar and spice  The Financial Times has had a vexed relationship with the World Economic Forum in the past. There was something of a tradition, in the week before Davos, for the FT to run a damning article about the organisation and the event. It seems the move to New York has changed things. According to the FT, "the change of venue… offers a chance to ginger up a recipe that some say was losing its piquancy". Goldman Sachs' Bob Hormats says, "New York will liven things up. It is a 2.2 gigahertz city. Davos is a 66 megahertz town." Curiously, no non-New Yorkers have been contacted for this round-up. To me, part of the point of Davos is there are no gigahertz, or even megahertz, around. Most of the participants spend 360 days of the year in a high-intensity world. There's a decompression that occurs as you head up into the mountains (particularly by my favoured route, the train). Even in the Kongresszentrum, where the pace can be frantic, there are windows looking out onto trees, mountains and snow. New York, by contrast, is the most  high-pressured place on earth. And I'm sure I can guarantee that the conference facilities in the Waldorf don't boast a single window. The FT article does contain some interesting background information. Apparently Ken Lay and Enron were "struck off" by the Forum. Given that he is testifying on Capitol Hill on the Monday of Davos in New York, I suspect he wouldn't have shown up in any case. President Bush is not coming, but "as many as 10" cabinet members are. Cheney is a possible. The protests expected on Saturday are being organised by a coalition called Another World is Possible. Some NGOs, including Friends of the Earth, have so far refused to participate in the protests because there is no guarantee of non-violence and respect for property. Another World, the FT reports, will only give such a commitment if the police say they will not use tear gas, rubber bullets and pre-emptive arrests. 10:26:45 AM

© Copyright 2002 Lance Knobel.