http://blogs.reuters.com/davos World Economic Forum Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:11:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Back in the Middle Ages, no-one took any notice of Copernicus when he said the Earth was not at the centre of the universe. Stewart Wallis, executive director of London-based “think-and-do-tank” the New Economics Foundation and one of the thousands attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, can sympathise. “I don’t mind ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/02/01/on-wealth-versus-well-being/ How do you keep VIPs -- hundreds of them -- happy? You can’t, especially at the World Economic Forum. There's no point in pulling that "Don't you know who I am?" line here at the annual Davos gathering, which is attended by hundreds of the biggest corporate and political bigwigs. Aides to Pakistan’s ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/31/in-crowded-davos-keeping-vips-happy-is-no-easy-task/ Many of the bankers blamed for the world financial crisis have been conspicuous by their absence from this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. They haven’t just missed conventional debate on how to prevent a re-run. They’ve also skipped the chance to hear Richard Olivier, theatre director and son of acting ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/31/the-answer-dear-bankers-lies-not-in-yourselves-but-in-shakespeare/ Business and political leaders congregating in the ski resort of Davos took a break from rosti, raclette and other Swiss cuisine as Japanese clothing maker Uniqlo sponsored a Japanese lunch and gave the conference hall a Tokyo-style makeover. The six-course lunch, packed neatly in a black bento box, contained: seafood and ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/31/japanese-give-davos-a-tokyo-style-makeover/ "Confidence grows at the rate that a coconut tree grows, but confidence falls at the rate that the coconut falls," Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India's Planning Commission, told a panel in Davos. He also indicated that India's decision not to float its currency and to build up massive reserves ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/31/of-confidence-and-coconut-trees/ Robert Shiller, the Yale economics professor who identified the housing bubble early, scents a profound change at Davos this year.  "There seems to be a paradigm shift underway in our thinking about the economy. I was surprised to see how similar other people's thinking was to my own," he said.  "The efficient ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/31/shiller-sees-a-new-paradigm/ An eminent scientist who studies the brain and economics thinks that the financial industry in essence became addicted and insensitive to both risk and reward. "The finance industry was adapting to the level or risk," said Gregory Berns a professor at Emory University in Atlanta and a leader in the relatively ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/31/risk-takers-anonymous/ Watch interviews with top business and world leaders including the following: Abdullah Al-badri Jose Gabrielli Donald Kaberuka Eric Anderson Carl Bildt Sue Gardner Kevin Kelly Rick Goings [youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh3GWvwD4ws[/youtube] http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/31/davos-today-31st-january/ Blackstone Group chairman Steve Schwarzman’s campaign against the evils of fair value accounting continued at a lunch hosted by Credit Suisse today. He condemned fair value accounting as a "pro-cyclical" concept that "makes no sense". "All that matters [in private equity deals] is when you buy and when you sell – at ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/30/fairs-not-fair-says-schwarzman-again/ Climate change -- and the need for governments to reach a deal in Copenhagen on limiting climate-changing emissions -- has been one of the central themes of this year's World Economic Forum in Davos. And despite concerns that the economic crisis could push climate change down the agenda, businesses are salivating ... http://blogs.reuters.com/davos/2009/01/30/climate-change-does-business-get-it/