Thread: World Economic Forum at Davos Eyes Banking Reforms, Haiti

World Economic Forum at Davos Eyes Banking Reforms, Haiti

Monday, January 25, 2010

By Angela Charlton, Associated Press

Davos, Switzerland (AP) - Responsible banks and aid for Haiti -- not invincible billionaires, high-charged diplomacy or rock stars -- are the watchwords at this year's World Economic Forum at Davos.

This rarefied Swiss resort will still host its share of bankers rich on post-meltdown bonuses and perhaps less of the humility that marked last year's gathering of many of the world's rich and powerful, then struggling through government bailouts and questioning their future.

Yet participants and organizers of this week's five-day forum, opening Wednesday with more than 2,500 leading figures in business and politics on deck, suggest Davos is marking its 40th birthday by adapting to a more sober and dispersed modern economy, one where Beijing weighs increasingly on the market balance, and where poverty and public outrage demand the attention of the world's moneymakers.

"The euphoria about globalization that marked Davos for years has in a sense been undermined by the global crisis," Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and frequent participant at Davos, told The Associated Press, expressing hope that "going forward, there can be a more serious attempt to try to get a more balanced view, not only at the benefits but at some of the risks."

While President Barack Obama's administration will be only modestly represented at this year's forum, his plan to clamp down on the size and activity of banks will be on many chief bankers' minds.

Rising global unemployment and sluggish recovery from recession form the backdrop for the forum, which will host more than 30 presidents and prime ministers from Jan. 27-31. The event, titled "Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild," will be opened by French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- a man who once hungered for freer markets for his country but now espouses a more state-supervised kind of "moral capitalism."

The forum, which has traditionally championed market-driven solutions, finds itself in a challenging pose.

This year's agenda looks at reforming banks and barriers to world trade as well as cybercrime, corruption and how businesses can respond to climate change.

Political headliners include Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Lee Myung-Bak of South Korea and Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Prime Ministers Stephen Harper of Canada and Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain. But the number of top leaders is sparser than in years past.

The slim U.S. presence suggests Davos is not a high priority for Obama's administration, after years of top-level participation under George W. Bush. Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, is the highest U.S. official slated to appear, leaving Obama at home amid a political battle over health care reform and unemployment over 10 percent, and set to give the U.S. State of the Union address on Wednesday.

Former President Bill Clinton's appearance will focus not on U.S. economic policy but on Haiti. As the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, he will encourage Davos participants to give some thought, and cash, to helping rebuild the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation after the earthquake that killed as many as 200,000 earlier this month, one of history's deadliest.

Diplomatic prospects at Davos this year are uncertain.

Last year's forum saw the heat of the Mideast tensions sear the Davos chill as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed off a stage shared with Israeli President Shimon Peres because of the Gaza offensive. Other years saw Mideast peace efforts progress at the closed-door meetings that are a hallmark of the forum.

Anti-capitalist and anti-globalization groups are eager to protest the event. Davos will be cordoned off by thousands of police, soldiers and other security personnel, but demonstrations are planned there and in other Swiss cities.

Davos has drawn in its share of entertainers -- U2 frontman Bono with his entreaties for more rich world aid to the poor, Angelina Jolie, Sharon Stone. This year's cultural figures include "Avatar" director James Cameron and classical pianist Lang Lang.

At its core, though, Davos is about the economy.

"The main asset which the World Economic Forum has created is this sort of hub, this notion that during a few days a year a large part of the economic leaders of the planet are together," Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, told The AP.

Lamy called Davos "a single story, a single place, a single moment. ... It has created a bonding culture, which is what we need in today's globalized planet."

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Associated Press writer Bradley S. Klapper contributed to this report.

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/60339

Capitalism's Woes Cheered at World Social Forum

Tuesday, 26 Jan 2010 07:09 AM

Leftists are pouring into town to rail against freewheeling capitalism during the World Social Forum, gleefully cheering the humbling of bankers and business titans by the global economic meltdown.

At the opening of the five-day event, some 25,000 activists paraded exuberantly through Porto Alegre on Monday, serenaded by the pounding of drums and salsa blared from sound trucks as they waved communist flags and shouted slogans against corporate greed.

The 10-year-old conference is the left's counter to the World Economic Forum at Davos, a Swiss ski resort where presidents, corporate leaders and others gather annually to discuss international issues. It is also being held this week.

Gustavo de Biase, a 22-year-old Brazilian wearing a shirt proclaiming "Socialism is Liberty," said the world's leftists are convinced they can get presidents from the U.S. to Brazil to embrace policies "of respect and equality aimed at lifting the poor out of misery."

"We want to distribute the riches to people," he said. "We're fighting for a more equal society and we're saying 'Down with hunger' and 'Down with war.'"

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva planned to address the social forum's masses Tuesday night in a soccer stadium. Media reports said he would focus on how Brazil has managed to lift millions from poverty as the country embraces an unprecedented boom that has given huge benefits to business and foreign investors.

Some participants said they like Silva's personality and respect him for rising to fame as a union leader even though he never graduated from high school. But they argued he did too much for corporations and banks during his terms in office that end this year.

The World Social Forum draws people with a wide range of causes, from demanding total state control of nations' petroleum reserves to seeking environmental preservation and animal rights.

Activists said this year's forum is especially important because governments from the United States to Europe are moving to take on bigger roles in managing the global economy.

The World Economic Forum that begins Wednesday in Davos is expected to see fewer leaders than in years past. U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to clamp down on the size and activity of banks is sure to be on the minds of many of the rich and powerful heading to Switzerland.

"They have driven the capitalist system into chaos," said Sergio Bernardo, a Brazilian human rights activist sporting a bright red shirt emblazoned with the words "Bourgeoisie Stinks!" "We're letting them know we can create a world free of exploitation that will help the poor."

Lingering fallout from the financial crisis is proof that the world economy must be retooled to benefit people, not big companies, said Francisco Whitaker, a Roman Catholic activist who helped found the World Social Forum.

He said that last year's Davos conference was similar to a "wake" and that the lackluster turnout expected this year "gives the impression that capitalism is on the downfall and hitting its limits."

Leftists are increasingly energized by the prospect of persuading governments to tackle corporate excess and spread more wealth to the needy, he said.

"We're in the midst of true enthusiasm," Whitaker said. "We may not change the world completely and all at once, but the change now can come from the bottom and spread. It's surging and getting toward a critical mass."

The World Social Forum serves as a platform for leftists to exchange ideas, though no proposals are formed following days of debate. Instead, participants are expected to take strategies back to their home countries and push for change locally.

While the economic crisis provided a perfect platform for advancing leftist movements, many failed to grasp the opportunity when the slump was at its worst, said Nandita Shah, co-director of India's Akshara Centre, which supports women's rights.

"I think there's a crisis in the left and in our voice," she said. "I hope these five days will bring us out of this visionless tunnel."

Source: The Associated Press

http://newsmax.com/InsideCover/LT-Brazi ... /id/347975