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The latest gathering of the world’s political and business elite, plus the usual celebrity turnout, will take place this week in the Swiss alpine resort of Davos. Annual meeting comes as economic storm clouds gather for the global economy, and as the ‘r’ word appears in many corporate earnings calls. In fact, the recession has become the top concern of CEOs around the worldaccording to a recent survey by nonprofit think tank The Conference Board.
Snapshot: The theme of the World Economic Forum for this year is “Cooperation in a fragmented world.” “The twin triggers of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have rattled an already fragile global system. Economic growth in the world’s largest economies is stalling, as they navigate headwinds from rising commodity prices. food and energy. For the first time since the 1970s, the world faces a precarious imbalance with growth and inflation moving in opposite directions,” according to the program summary.
“This is occurring alongside further geoeconomic fragmentation, financial sector vulnerabilities, including stretched asset prices and high debt levels, and an out-of-control climate crisis, which could magnify any slowdown in growth, particularly in emerging markets. A Unless these systemic and interconnected risks are addressed, the promise of a ‘decade of action’ may turn into a decade of uncertainty and fragility.”
What else to see: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with her Chinese counterpart Liu He on Wednesday as friction persists between the world’s two largest economies in areas such as trade and Taiwan. She also arrives before Yellen embarks on a 10-day trip to Africa, where she hopes to persuade countries to loosen their financial ties with Russia and China. There was already an effort to improve bilateral relations after President Biden met Xi Jinping in Bali in November, which followed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s tension-filled visit to Taipei on the summer.
