Economist talks Davos meetings

Considered by many in years past to be just a high-altitude cocktail party for the business and corporate elite, the four-day World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that wrapped up Jan. 28 had a more sober atmosphere this year by most accounts, even if the champagne flowed as usual.

Along with the eurozone crisis, the Arab Spring and the standoff with Iran, a rare emphasis was placed on social justice and environmentalism. Some panel discussions at the event, which was themed "The Great Transformation: Exploring New Models," even looked at the validity of capitalism as an economic system.

Czech economist and member of the National Economic Council Tomáš Sedláček participated in an evening panel Jan. 27 titled "Remodeling Capitalism."

"The topic was sort of taken from the Occupy movement. Questions like 'the end of capitalism' have been seriously raised," Sedláček told The Prague Post. "I am happy the top thinkers and leaders now realize the current system is not sustainable."

In addition to the questions raised about the sustainability of the free market system, environmental sustainability found its way into several discussions, even some that were not explicitly focused on the environment.

"Years ago, nobody took the green arguments seriously, but now it is a generally acknowledged topic, and companies and states are really beginning to care," Sedláček said. "Nobody ever thought this would actually become so mainstream."

As expected, the eurozone debt crisis and possibility of a recession were the biggest clouds hovering over the Alpine gathering, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde took advantage of the forum to stress the urgency for movement not only on the fiscal consolidation deal, but on beefing up the IMF's lending capacity by $500 billion. Both were approved by EU leaders Jan. 30.

"No one is immune in the current situation," Lagarde warned at the forum. "It's a crisis that could have spill-over and collateral effects around the world."

Emily Thompson can be reached at
ethompson@praguepost.com