INTL Davos 2016: A world divided: Elites descend on Swiss Alps amid rising inequality

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-davos-meeting-divisions-idUSKCN0UW007

Mon Jan 18, 2016 3:31am EST
Related: World, Davos

A world divided: Elites descend on Swiss Alps amid rising inequality

DAVOS, Switzerland | By Ben Hirschler and Noah Barkin

Politicians and business leaders gathering in the Swiss Alps this week face an increasingly divided world, with the poor falling further behind the super-rich and political fissures in the United States, Europe and the Middle East running deeper than at any time in decades.

Just 62 people, 53 of them men, own as much wealth as the poorest half of the entire world population and the richest 1 percent own more than the other 99 percent put together, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said on Monday.

Significantly, the wealth gap is widening faster than anyone anticipated, with the 1 percent overtaking the rest one year earlier than Oxfam had predicted only a year ago.

Rising inequality and a widening trust gap between people and their political leaders are big challenges for the global elite as they converge on Davos for the annual World Economic Forum, which runs from Jan. 20 to 23.

But the divisions go far beyond those that exist between the haves and have-nots. In the Middle East, the divide between Shi'ites and Sunnis has reached crisis point, with Iran and Saudi Arabia jostling openly for influence in a region reeling from war and the barbarism of Islamic extremists.

The conflicts there have spilled over into Europe, causing deep ideological rifts over how to handle the worst refugee crisis since World War Two and - with Britain threatening to leave the European Union - raising doubts about the future of Europe's six-decade push towards ever closer integration.

The shock emergence of Donald Trump as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination has exposed a gaping political divide in the United States, stirring anxiety among Washington's allies at a time of global turmoil.

Among the key figures in Davos, will be U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of both Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Canada's new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be on hand, as will Britain's David Cameron and Mario Draghi at a time when a new transatlantic monetary policy divide is opening up between his loosening European Central Bank and a tightening U.S. Federal Reserve.

Celebrities will also be out in force, including film stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Kevin Spacey.

FUELLING POPULISTS

Edelman's annual "Trust Barometer" survey shows a record gap this year in trust between the informed publics and mass populations in many countries, driven by income inequality and divergent expectations of the future. The gap is the largest in the United States, followed by the UK, France and India.

"The consequence of this is populism - exemplified by Trump and Le Pen," Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman, told Reuters, referring to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose National Front has surged ahead of traditional parties in opinion polls.

The next wave of technological innovation, dubbed the fourth industrial revolution and a focus of the Davos meeting, threatens further social upheaval as many traditional jobs are lost to robots.

The Oxfam report suggests that global inequality has reached levels not seen in over a century.

Last year, the organisation has calculated, 62 individuals had the same wealth as 3.5 billion people, or the bottom half of humanity. The wealth of those 62 people has risen 44 percent, or more than half a trillion dollars, over the past five years, while the wealth of the bottom half has fallen by over a trillion.

"Far from trickling down, income and wealth are instead being sucked upwards at an alarming rate," the report says.

It points to a "global spider's web" of tax havens that ensures wealth stays out of reach of ordinary citizens and governments, citing a recent estimate that $7.6 trillion of individual wealth - more than the combined economies of Germany and the UK - is currently held offshore.

"It's a major wake-up call," said Jyrki Raina, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, which represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors. "Inequality is one of the biggest threats to economic well-being and it needs to be addressed."

U.S. President Barack Obama touched on the issue in his recent State of the Union address, noting that technological change was reshaping the planet.

"It's change that can broaden opportunity, or widen inequality. And whether we like it or not, the pace of this change will only accelerate," he said.

"Companies in a global economy can locate anywhere, and face tougher competition...As a result, workers have less leverage for a raise. Companies have less loyalty to their communities. And more and more wealth and income is concentrated at the very top."

(Editing by Anna Willard)

 

[Dozdoats]

Bet their security is redoubled this year ...

 

[Housecarl]

Bet their security is redoubled this year ...

Yeah. I recall a few years ago someone drove through a checkpoint and the Swiss troops manning it literally "lit them up".

This time around, particularly considering the big manhunt that was going on and faded out in the reporting around Geneva after the raids in Belgium, double or triple should be expected.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/18/news/economy/davos-2016-need-to-know/

Davos: What you need to know

by Ivana Kottasova @ivanakottasova
January 18, 2016: 6:06 AM ET

Political leaders, CEOs and celebrities are gathering in Davos this week to discuss the world's most pressing issues.

Here is what you need to know about the world's most exclusive meeting:

I hear it's really big. Oh, yes. Around 2,500 participants from more than 100 countries, including 40 heads of state, attend the gathering in Switzerland, formally known as the World Economic Forum annual meeting. This year, the theme is "Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

It takes place in the mountains. Way up. At 1,560 meters (5,120 feet) above sea level, Davos is Europe's highest town. Its population is just over 11,000 and the average temperature in January is -5°C/23°F.

Why in such a remote, cold place? Tradition. Also, it's much easier to secure a little town wedged between the mountains than a conference center in a big city -- remember, 40 heads of states are coming.

Only once was the meeting held outside of Davos: In 2002, in New York, as a gesture of solidarity after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Davos is safe. The organizers don't release specific information, but it is estimated that around 5,000 Swiss troops, police and security personnel guard the town.

Davos is pricey. The ticket is around $20,000 and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Travel can cost thousands, and a night in a medium-range hotel is around $600. Add to it wining, dining, and essential accessories like snow boots, and the total bill can add up to around $40,000.

Davos is green. The town's CO2 levels fall on average up to 30% during the annual meeting, thanks to controls on vehicle emissions and the use of electric transport.

Besides the skiing, what's it all about? Meetings. Hundreds of them. With major companies, countries and media represented, there is hardly a better opportunity to schmooze and make deals. But the forum is not about big public announcements. Meetings are informal and take place behind closed doors.

Who is coming this year? Nearly everyone who matters in the world of business. Bill Gates will be there, as will Mary Barra, Satya Nadella, Jack Ma, Eric Schmidt, Sheryl Sandberg and dozens of other CEOs.

The IMF chief Christine Lagarde will be in Davos, with ECB President Mario Draghi and the governors of 10 national central banks.

The U.S. will be represented by Joe Biden and John Kerry. Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney General, is also coming, as is Penny Pritzker, the Secretary of Commerce.

The King and Queen of Jordan will be there, as will Bono, Leonardo DiCaprio, Yao Chen and will.i.am.

They'll all be closely followed by around 250 journalists, including a posse from CNN.

And the no-shows? Neither Barack Obama nor Vladimir Putin are coming to Switzerland. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also sitting it out this year.


CNNMoney (DAVOS, Switzerland)
First published January 18, 2016: 6:06 AM ET

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/18/peak-performance-davos-summit-to-debate-big-topics.html

Peak performance: Davos summit to debate big topics

11 Hours Ago

Video

The theme for this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, has turned its attention to transformative tech, and "Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

But while the agenda for leaders of business and politics in the Alpine resort focuses on technology, many conversations are likely to be on the "old" issues still plaguing the world such as the recent market volatility in China to divergent monetary policy, the new oil order, terror risks and geopolitical tensions.

CNBC spoke to some of the key people attending Davos this year to see what the key talking points will be at Davos in 2016.

Hard-landing in China

In the run-up to the start of the WEF on January 20th, all eyes have turned to the east amid a drastic selloff in Chinese equities amid fears that the country might be heading for a "hard landing) and concerns over the Peoples' Bank of China's monetary policy maneuvers.


"We are seeing a slowdown in China, (with GDP growth) probably around 6 to 6.5 percent in 2016, but that is still more than double the level we’re seeing in developed markets."
-Anne Richards, chief investment officer at Aberdeen Asset Management


Anne Richards, chief investment officer at Aberdeen Asset Management, said that those concerns could be overdone, however. "We are seeing a slowdown in China, (with GDP growth) probably around 6 to 6.5 percent in 2016, but that is still more than double the level we're seeing in developed markets."

Richards said she was "not yet in the camp that we're seeing a hard landing in China" but the world's second largest economy was certainly set to be a big theme in 2016.

Geopolitics and terror

Last year saw a number of positive developments in geopolitics including a landmark nuclear deal between international powers and Iran, the bringing of the deadly Ebola virus under control, a breakthrough in U.S.-Cuba relations and a global climate deal in Paris.

However, the year was also dominated by several high-profile terrorist attacks on Westerners – mostly at the hands of terrorist group that calls itself "Islamic State" (ISIS) -- and two prominent attacks on European soil, one targeting the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the other a set of coordinated attacks killing 130 people in Paris in November.

In addition to the terror threat, the decline in oil prices and rising tensions between major powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and the future of Europe's fragile political and shaky economic union are also key focal points for 2016.

Reflecting on how a year of geopolitical upheavals could affect the Davos agenda, John Studzinski, vice chairman of Blackstone, told CNBC that the WEF 2016 forum's attention would mark a shift from monetary policy and the economic cycle into "what has become a profound geopolitical cycle."

"The punchline really is that, in Europe, the geopolitical cycle matches or meets the economic cycle because the European Union (EU) with its potential for fragmentation is still one of the largest – if not the largest economic zones in the world -- and that itself will pose a massive challenge for the leadership of the EU," he told CNBC ahead of the WEF summit.

Monetary policy divergence

Last year was dominated by the "will-they-won't-they" uncertainty regarding the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike -- the first in almost a decade. In the end, and after heavy hints to the markets, the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked its key rate by 0.25 percent and the move was taken in the markets' stride.

"We’ve had periods of time in the past where when U.S. interest rates and European interest rate policy was apparently going in a different direction and it’s tended not to end too well for Europe, as opposed to the U.S."
-Anne Richards, chief investment officer at Aberdeen Asset Management


While the Fed turned to tightening, in Europe, however, the European Central Bank was loosening the purse strings further in a bid to stimulate growth and ward of deflation. The issue of monetary policy divergence, and its potential impact on the global economy, would be the "big question for 2016," Richards said.


"We've had periods of time in the past where when U.S. interest rates and European interest rate policy was apparently going in a different direction and it's tended not to end too well for Europe, as opposed to the U.S.," she told CNBC.


"But I think that the tail-end of 2015 and the very early part of 2016 with the volatility in markets and the disruption there, if anything, has pushed out the likelihood of further rate rises in the States -- and certainly towards the second half of the year -- which might mean that divergence is less extreme than we thought it might be."

Europe leadership crisis?

The civil war in Syria is now entering its fifth year and despite its distance from the continent, Europe has keenly felt the conflict with over a million refugees, predominantly of Middle Eastern origin, arriving in Europe.

Germany led the charge to open Europe's borders and it is estimated that, in 2015 in total, one million migrants arrived in the country. While Chancellor Angela Merkel drew applause for her leadership of the European response, a spate of sexual assaults on women in Germany on New Year's Eve, allegedly by men of Arab and North African origin, has put her "open-door" policy under fire. The allegations have also played into the hands of right-wing political groups in Europe.

"Europe is a bundle of unresolved political crises at the moment, of which probably the most important is migration."
-Mark Malloch Brown, co-chair of the WEF Commission on Business and Sustainable Development


Mark Malloch Brown, co-chair of the WEF Commission on Business and Sustainable Development, told CNBC that geopolitical issues affecting Europe, such as migration, needed more attention and political leaders could use Davos as an opportunity to discuss them.

"Europe is a bundle of unresolved political crises at the moment, of which probably the most important is migration. But it's the political implications of migration, both in Europe and its neighborhood, and the failure to tackle the roots of the mass-movement of people both in the Middle East and Africa – all of that poses a fundamental threat to the whole European ideal."

Blackstone's John Studzinski noted that there was a danger that Europe was threatened as a result or polarization between left and right-wing groups in Europe, a split which has been accentuated by the migrant crisis.

"Europe has got to start listening to itself and try to hold its vision together because it is one of the great success stories of the last 40 years but there is a need for a little more listening and cross-border collaboration. Right now we have the opposite, with people putting up borders because of the refugees and developing local populist and nationalist views and that is the recipe for a lot of trouble."

SHOW COMMENTS

 

[Housecarl]

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http://www.bworldonline.com/content...n-davos-faces-the-same-old-problems&id=121676

Posted on January 18, 2016 09:35:00 PM
By Richard Quest

Fourth Industrial Revolution? Davos faces the same old problems

AS IF THE THIRD WEEK of January wasn’t depressing enough, it is time for us to haul ourselves back to the snowy mountain town of Davos and the World Economic Forum.

This year, WEF founder Klaus Schwab wants us to think about “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Fourth industrial revolution? For me any mention of ‘industrial revolution’ conjures up draughty classrooms, Spinning Jennys, soot-covered children up chimneys, and aggressive looking Luddites. Instead, Schwab wants us to consider a fresh revolution, all about technology and how mankind can put it to the best possible use.

“We must have a comprehensive and globally shared understanding of how technology is changing our lives and that of future generations,” says Schwab. Given that Oxford University academics warned recently that robots threaten mankind’s very existence, he surely has a point.

Schwab is asking his delegates to focus on the new; yet the issues vexing the world are anything but.

This year, more than most, a Groundhog Day of problems awaits the delegates. The threat of Islamic extremism may be more acute than ever, but its roots stretch back to the first Gulf War. The European Union, that perennial basket-case of wishful thinking, is grappling with the knock-on effects of that same conflict, as well as the fallout of a sovereign debt crisis that began in 2009.

In fact, everywhere you look there are variations on old themes: the Korean peninsula has remained in the same intractable deadlock for well over half a century; Russia is back to its old ways of isolation abroad and economic hardship at home; even China’s currency crisis stems partially from its old world growth -- based on the fact that it was simply the cheapest place to manufacture the new technology Schwab wants us to think so hard about.

There are more recent but no less familiar problems. Oil prices, thundering south this time last year, remain resolutely in the doldrums. The SNP’s plans for an independent Scotland’s economy look laughably naïve right now. Truck drivers will rejoice, but with prices at record lows oil-dependent economies such as Nigeria are in profound pain. Factor in the imminent arrival of Iran back on the international oil scene, and it is hard to say where this one is going.

Among the only reasons Davos exists at all is that we mere mortals, supposedly in the thick of this fourth industrial revolution, are powerless to do much about all such big issues. These days we can barely be distracted long enough from our mobile phones to even think about them.

Well, perhaps it is here that Schwab’s vision for this year’s conference shines through. It is easy to be cynical about Davos, which has an image problem all of its own, but it remains a unique opportunity. What this year’s Forum must do is get back to basics: the delegates should head up the mountain to escape all these perennial problems. They should take advantage of a week in the clear mountain air and use the time to think carefully and strategically about what we are up against and how it can be changed. If they leave their mobile phones behind, better still.

Davos is unique. There is simply no other place where the worlds of politics and business meet and talk and, sometimes, listen. At a time when the world desperately needs fresh ideas, perhaps it can defy expectations and ignite a revolution of its own.

CNN will be reporting from the World Economic Forum at Davos, from 20 to 23 January www.cnn.com/davos

Richard Quest is CNN’s foremost international business correspondent and host of Quest Means Business.

Twitter @richardquest

 

[Dozdoats]

Every lamp post in Davos needs to be decorated with a politician, bankster or globalist figure. EVERY ONE.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au...s/news-story/5f9b642694810d30172fc7b271e892dd

What to look out for at Davos

January 19, 2016 1:59am
Carlo Piovano

What to look out for at Davos

Extremist attacks, plunging markets, and the break-neck pace of technological innovation. The world is beset by uncertainties as 2,500 business executives, political leaders and activists gather in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos this week.

Although the glitzy event, which features speeches, panels and debates, has drawn criticism for being disconnected from the real world, many participants stress the practical advantage of having so many peers in one place.

The meetings can lead to corporate deals and diplomatic dialogue. In 2015, Ukraine struck an international bailout deal in Davos.

"A lot of relationships are built and renewed," said John Veihmeyer, chairman of the consulting firm KPMG.

The annual gathering organised by the World Economic Forum is mainly a business event but it has grown over the years to attract world leaders, celebrities, Nobel prize winners and star academics.

This year’s meeting is officially about how to harness technological change. In practice, it will be abuzz with discussion about the multitude of risks facing government and business leaders.

Here’s a look at what’s likely to dominate the meetings.

CHINA

The future of China has become synonymous with the fate of the global economy and financial markets. Concerns about Beijing’s ability to handle a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy have caused stocks to plunge in 2016. The big risk is that China’s decline might become disorderly and hammer business activity or trigger a financial crisis. The country is a huge consumer of raw materials and energy from states like Brazil, Australia, and Russia. Its outsize industrial sector buys machinery from the West and makes and exports consumer goods at a low cost. And the growing middle class has become a key market for car and luxury goods companies.

Key people to watch: Jack Ma, the head of Chinese retail giant Alibaba, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, and Fang Xinghai, representative of China’s financial market regulator.

SECURITY

The threat of extremist attacks of the kind that have hit Paris, Jakarta and Istanbul will be among the top issues, particularly for the political leaders, who will have the opportunity to hold multiple closed-door meetings with their counterparts. The international campaign to fight the Islamic State group has seen several Western countries and Russia bomb Syria and Iraq. The conflict has triggered a mass migration of people into Europe and inflamed tensions between Middle Eastern powers Saudi Arabia and Iran. January’s nuclear test by North Korea will also be a topic of discussion – particularly after the World Economic Forum cancelled its invitation to the country’s delegation over the incident.

Key people: US Secretary of State John Kerry, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

OIL

The dramatic slide in energy prices is shaking up companies and economies. While making fuel cheaper for consumers and businesses, the drop in oil prices is also leading to thousands of job cuts in the energy sector and financial instability and poverty in oil-exporting countries like Russia and Venezuela. And world powers’ agreement this weekend to lift sanctions on Iran will see the country start pumping millions of barrels of oil into the already oversupplied market, as well as a rush to sign business deals with the country.

Key people: Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Al Assaf, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden, Iraq Prime Minister Haidar Al Abadi.

TECHNOLOGY

This year’s meeting is officially focused on how "the fourth industrial revolution" will change every aspect of society, from health to business and travel. Among the most immediate concerns is how to protect companies and governments from cyberattacks as business increasingly goes digital. But participants will also be keen to discuss opportunities created by growing trends such as 3D printing, driverless cars, robotics and new biotechnologies.

Key people: Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Nearly 200 countries reached a landmark deal in December in Paris to limit the rise in world temperatures this century. Achieving that promise won’t be easy. Shifting to renewable energy and cleaning up greenhouse gases will require technological innovations as well as huge investment – about $US13.5 trillion ($A19.74 trillion) by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. To do so, governments will have to attract the private sector’s interest. Meanwhile, developing countries trying to bring their populations out of poverty will have to balance the need for cheap – and more polluting – energy like coal against the new targets.

Key people: UN climate chief Christina Figueres and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, credited with brokering the Paris deal.

 

[Dozdoats]

One of my pet theories (yet to be proven) has been for years that if terrorism is "for real," places like Davos and events like the WEF would be primary targets.

The fact that such salons remain apparently immune convinces me more and more that "terrorism" is just one more concocted threat, used by the elite to manipulate the masses.

YMMV of course.

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm......

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/18/davos-braces-digital-disruptors-taavert-hinrikus

Davos 2016

Davos braces for an influx of digital disruptors

Taavet Hinrikus hopes to shake-up the money transfer market much as Skype disrupted the phone industry

Jill Treanor
Monday 18 January 2016 07.58 EST

Taavet Hinrikus is a disruptor. As the first employee of the internet phone service Skype, he helped spark a revolution in the way people communicate with each other. Now, Hinrikus is aiming to transform the way people move cash around the world through TransferWise, an online money transmission service.

The 34-year-old Estonian is plotting his latest revolution from the unglamorous location of Old Street in London, better known as the silicon roundabout hub where like-minded digital disruptors are based.

This week he will take his mission to Davos, the Swiss ski resort where business leaders, politicians and celebrities chew over the hot topics facing the world. He symbolises the new-look Davos man: knowledgeable about “the fourth industrial revolution” – the impact of new technology and robots – that the organisers of the World Economic Forum have selected as this year’s theme.

Hinrikus, who is more accustomed to skiing in Davos than holding a hot ticket to the forum, said digital disruptors such as himself are “harnessing technology to create change, to create better services, to create a better world Disruption has been around for a long time. The car disrupted the horse, the micro-computer disrupted the mainframe.”

The speed and amount of disruption has changed as a result of the internet. Skype, created in 2003 in Estonia, disrupted an industry in which making a call once required the intervention of an operator. Those industries feeling the impact off digital disruption also include the music industry – “instead of going to HMV and buying a piece of plastic you sign up to Spotify” – and transport, in which Uber and Hailo are causing shockwaves.

Finance is now on the radar of the digital disruptors. Peer-to-peer lenders are challenging one part of banking’s traditional business while startups are aiming to chip away at the banks’ core current account market by creating mobile-only banks. The industry is no longer protected by bricks and mortar, says Hinrikus.

“Back in the days you would build the biggest building in the city and say: ‘You can trust us’,” he says. The financial crisis changed that as “people realised these institutions called banks are really about generating profit and fuelling the greed of the bankers”.

The UK government wants to turn London into the world’s capital for financial innovation, so-called fintech. The aim is not only to attract financiers to the UK but also foster competition in a domestic market dominated by the big four banks.

Hinrikus views London as the ideal place to run the business, even though 300 of the 450 staff are based in Estonia. “From here I can be in Singapore or San Francisco in 12 hours … It is a unique place where finance meets tech. New York has lots of finance and not so much tech and San Francisco has lots of tech and not so much finance.”

He credits Estonia with fostering a spirit of self-reliance, as the communist regime, which fell in 1991, forced individuals to do things for themselves. “Everyone knew how to fix [their] car engine,” he said.

TransferWise, launched in 2011, is said to have been valued at $1bn a year ago when the Silicon Valley venture-capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, backed a fundraising. Marc Andreessen is credited with inventing web browers. Sir Richard Branson and the former chief executive of the US bank Citigroup, Vikram Pandit, are among the other big-name backers. As a so-called unicorn – a tech startup with a $1bn valuation – there are concerns that TransferWise could be just hype.

The operation is still filing abbreviated accounts, which show a loss for the financial year to March 2014 of £14m.

Its website tells the story of how it was created by Hinrikus and his friend Kristo Käärmann: “Taavet had worked for Skype in Estonia, so was paid in euros, but lived in London. Kristo worked in London, but had a mortgage in euros back in Estonia. They devised a simple scheme. Each month the pair checked that day’s mid-market rate on Reuters to find a fair exchange rate. Kristo put pounds into Taavet’s UK bank account, and Taavet topped up his friend’s euro account with euros. Both got the currency they needed, and neither paid a cent in hidden bank charges.”

TransferWise matches customers wanting to move money across borders. Hinrikus said it had 450 “payment corridors”. Its most popular route involves exchanges out of the UK to Spain, Germany and India. Regulated by the city regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, it is subject to the “know your customer” rules intended to prevent money laundering. Africa, where countries such as Somalia have been locked out of the so-called remittance system, is proving a harder nut to crack, although Nigeria is one country on the continent for which it does offer an exchange rate.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/1379634/

By Robert Phillips Monday, 18 January 2016

Davos: The annual corporate pantomime of trust

Looking for "more trust" is a meaningless exercise, says Robert Phillips.

Christmas may be over but the pantomime season still has weeks to run - even if Andrew, the perennial Party Prince, is not taking to this year’s stage.

As the corporate world puts on its snow shoes and prepares for its annual gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos, so legions of PR folk will spend the first days of January busily scripting "corporate narratives", "key messages" and prepping Chief Executives for their annual trip to the mountain-top.

Every year follows a depressingly familiar pattern. CEO speeches will feature the "T" word with carefree abandon. "Trust" is the easiest word to write yet much more challenging to explain. Yes, it is important that we all trust our customers (or employees, colleagues, policy-makers – select audience of choice) and that our customers etc. trust us. But much of what is written and then said is little more than platitudinous twaddle. "Trust" has become the most abused and exhausted word in the modern business lexicon (you can trust me on this, I even wrote a book about it).

Business leaders should think instead about trustworthiness – based on honesty, reliability, and competence. Trustworthiness is much more straightforward. Trustworthiness is personal and reciprocal and never a corporate command. "Corporate trust" is essentially a myth.

Surveying and quantifying "trust" has become a business in itself. Smart research tools are good for raising profiles and issues but we should be troubled by their often clunky metrics. Year-on-year trust measurement systems ("trust" up in Brazil, down in China – holding steady among NGOs etc.) grab headlines but ignore nuances of trustworthy behaviour and over-simplify underlying behavioural memes that continue to bedevil business (and politics).

The balance between profit and purpose remains perhaps the most acute of these – the longstanding tension between maximising shareholder value and "doing what is right" has still to be resolved. Within this vacuum, "trust" has become little more than speech-writing and marketing shorthand for exploring everything that ails us with business: a cue-word for examining consistent failures and a seeming inability to do the right thing for the common good.

Davos 2016, like in previous years, will see much handwringing from world business leaders, demanding why one of their number has "abused trust" and what it will take to restore it (while privately thanking god that nothing untoward happened in their organisation, on their watch).

This year’s cause celebre will be Volkswagen. Concern will be delivered through outpourings of shock-horror questions: (a) how could it happen? (b) why did it happen? (c) what comes next for the beleaguered company? (Nothing more than full contrition and radical transparency on all future behaviour will do).

Alongside VW in 2016, please reference Toshiba (2016), GSK (2015), BP (2011), RBS (2009/10 and on-going) and previously Enron, Worldcom and other miscreants. Every year, a global corporation conveniently provides Davos scriptwriters with an opportunity to opinionate on why trust levels in business have fallen so low and why they really do need to be restored.

Except, perhaps they don’t. Looking for "more trust" is a meaningless exercise. The harsh truth is there can be no return to "old trust". This is nothing more than a fiction of corporate imagination. Whistleblowers, social media campaigns, citizen journalists, NGO and shareholder activists have blown away hierarchies that once protected Davos elites. There is nowhere to hide in an open world (at least, not for long) and resistance is futile anyway, as VW and Toshiba eventually found out.

Trust is an outcome to be earned, not in a CEO’s gift as a message to trumpet. If we, humble citizens, can all see this from the valley below, why do leaders atop the mountain remain wilfully blind? Maybe it is all that snow.

Robert is the co-founder of Jericho Chambers and a Visiting Professor at Cass Business School, London. His latest book, Trust Me, PR Is Dead was published in spring 2015.

 

[Housecarl]

One of my pet theories (yet to be proven) has been for years that if terrorism is "for real," places like Davos and events like the WEF would be primary targets.

The fact that such salons remain apparently immune convinces me more and more that "terrorism" is just one more concocted threat, used by the elite to manipulate the masses.

YMMV of course.

Yeah, considering the "shadow play" of surrogacy that the vast majority of such groups, whatever stripe they wear, actually represent in for lack of a better term "the Great Game", your "pet theory" has an awful lot going for it IMHO.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/01/18/whos-who-at-davos/

Who's who at Davos?

City A.M.
6 hours ago

If it seems like the Davos reads like a who's who of the world elite, you wouldn't be wrong.

On the Swiss slopes, the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum which kicks off this Wednesday, brings together the world's biggest politicians, business leaders and a sprinkling of celebrities to liven things up too

Leonardo DiCaprio is the most high profile of them to set foot on the snowy slopes of the Swiss town, while Will.I.Am returns for a second year along with names such as Bono and Kevin Spacey.

It's Credit Suisse's Tidjane Thiam, Microsoft's Satya Nadella and General Motors boss Mary Barra who are among the high-profile co-chairs of the event.

Notable absences go to Angela Merkel this year (she's got a lot on her plate) while North Korean delegates, returning to the event for the first time since 2008, had their invite revoked last week.

David Cameron, however, makes a return to Davos after giving it a miss last year.

John McFarlane and Jes Stanley of Barclays, HSBC's Douglas Flint and Stuart Gulliver, Lloyds' Inga Beale and John Nelson, and pretty much every major financial institution in the world is represented at Davos.

Business leaders to keep an eye out for (whether speaking or wandering around the town if you're out there) include Sir Richard Branson, Sir Martin Sorrell and Unilever's Paul Polman. Gavin Patterson and Mike Rake of BT will be out there, as will Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive. M&S's chief Marc Bolland might now plan on a more relaxing in the Swiss resort after decijding to exit the retailer at the start of the year.

With the theme of this year's event the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there's no surprise to find the biggest names in tech making an appearance.​

Alibaba's Jack Ma Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg (no Mark Zuckerberg, but then he is on paternity leave), Uber's ​Travis Kalanick along with policy queen Rachel Whetstone.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Eric Schmidt of Google, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Meg Whitman of HP, Salesforce's Marc Benioff, YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki and Nathan Blecharczyk of Airbnb. A handful of Yahoo executives are attending, but no Marissa Mayer this year.

From the UK, there's Facebook's Nicola Mendelsohn and Google's Matt Brittin and Taavet Hinrikus of fintech unicorn TransferWise, which was named one of the World Economic Forum's tech pioneers last year.​

We imagine there'll belong queues to see newly minted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, voted one of Vogue's "convention defying hotties" in its sexiest man alive rankings.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras were rumoured to back in discussions at Davos, talking the European union, but in fact Tsipras will be doing that with three other European Prime Ministers instead.

Instead Lagarde will chat about the global economy with the UK's very own chancellor George Osborne among others.

Check out the full list here, and the events line up here.

Full story: Who's who at Davos?: City A.M.

 

[Bob1313]

Quick somebody forward this to ISIS

 

[tanstaafl]

One of my pet theories (yet to be proven) has been for years that if terrorism is "for real," places like Davos and events like the WEF would be primary targets.

The fact that such salons remain apparently immune convinces me more and more that "terrorism" is just one more concocted threat, used by the elite to manipulate the masses.

YMMV of course.

The security at those events is very serious business. So why would anyone do the equivalent of charging a fully functional main battle tank with a single shot handgun? You select targets that you have a decent chance of inflicting damage on, even if you're on a suicide mission. It's called "asymmetric warfare" and it's not a mystery -- it's been going on for a long time now.

 

[Housecarl]

The security at those events is very serious business. So why would anyone do the equivalent of charging a fully functional main battle tank with a single shot handgun? You select targets that you have a decent chance of inflicting damage on, even if you're on a suicide mission. It's called "asymmetric warfare" and it's not a mystery -- it's been going on for a long time now.

True as well, though to be fair, given that the place is regularly used and likely physical perimeter security measures would be relatively simple to predict, either an "Archduke Ferdinand" style attack or one of those 'monster raids" IS/AQ/Taliban have been conducting of late "could" be mounted. And those participants have all been operating on the "one way" mission profile.

Remember, even if it got blunted at one of the security rings, just that it was mounted would be seen and spun as a "victory" by the most likely groups to do such a thing.

 

[Amazed]

Avalanche anyone?

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm..........

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://in.reuters.com/article/us-health-ebola-vaccine-idINKCN0UY0OT

Wed Jan 20, 2016 4:18pm IST
Related: Health, Davos

Vaccines alliance signs $5 million advance deal for Merck's Ebola shot

DAVOS/LONDON | By Ben Hirschler and Kate Kelland


The Gavi global alliance for vaccines and immunization group signed a $5 million advance purchase commitment on Wednesday to buy a vaccine being developed by Merck to protect against future outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus.

Gavi said the agreement would help the U.S. drugmaker take the experimental Ebola vaccine through late-stage clinical trials to licensing and then through pre-qualification by the World Health Organization (WHO).

If approved, Merck's so-called VSV-ZEBOV live attenuated Ebola Zaire vaccine would become one of the world's first licensed Ebola shots and Gavi would be able to start buying it to create a stockpile for future outbreaks, it said in a statement issued at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

A vast epidemic of Ebola which swept through three countries in West Africa last year killed more than 11,300 people and infected more than 28,600.

"The suffering caused by the Ebola crisis was a wake-up call to many in the global health community," said Gavi's chief executive Seth Berkley.

"New threats require smart solutions and our innovative financing agreement with Merck will ensure that we are ahead of the curve for future Ebola outbreaks."

The deal was agreed on the understanding that the vaccine will be submitted for a license by the end of 2017.

Speaking to Reuters in Davos, Berkley said the advance commitment should give a positive signal to drugmakers developing products that may not have an immediate market

"It's critical that we give confidence to companies that when they make this type of effort, there is somebody to buy it," he said.

As part of the agreement, Merck will ensure that 300,000 doses of the vaccine are available from May 2016 to be used in expanded use clinical trials as well as for emergency use as needed while development work on the shot continues.

Until the West Africa Ebola epidemic, which swiftly became the largest in history, previous outbreaks of the disease have infected far smaller numbers, usually fewer than 1,000 people.

Initial results from a clinical trial in Guinea of the vaccine, which tested it on some 4,000 people who had been in close contact with a confirmed Ebola case, showed complete protection after 10 days.

Merck says it has already submitted an application through WHO's Emergency Use Assessment and Listing (EUAL) procedure which, if approved, would allow for the vaccine to be used if there is another Ebola emergency before it is licensed.

Jeremy Farrar, director of Britain's Wellcome Trust global health charity which co-funded clinical trials of the Merck shot, said the "remarkable results" from those trials, as well as promising progress of other vaccine candidates, were "among the few positive outcomes to emerge from the epidemic".

The WHO announced last week that no new Ebola cases had been reported in the three worst affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the preceding 42 days.

Yet shortly after the WHO announcement - which included a warning that sporadic flare-ups could occur - Sierra Leone reported an Ebola-related death.

Farrar said such instances show how an Ebola vaccine could yet be useful in this outbreak, even in its final stages.

"As we saw with the new confirmed case just last week, the Ebola epidemic is likely to have a long tail and it's possible that several more isolated cases will emerge in the coming weeks and months," he said in a statement.

"This vaccine...could still play an important role in containing any additional flare ups of this outbreak, as well as being available to help prevent future epidemics."


(Editing by Greg Mahlich)

 

[Hfcomms]

HA HA HA!!!

Jamie Dimon is on CNBC from Davos and the longer he talks the more the DOW sinks. Saying that the economy is in good shape and he thinks the Fed will continue to tighten, saying that the oil industry in the U.S. will be able to weather the storm and that J.P. Morgan will be there in good times and bad. Says this whole thing with the markets is a classic 'growth scare'. When Dimon started talking live the DOW was down about -325 points and now down over 400 points. Keep talking Jamie!

 

[packyderms_wife]

One of my pet theories (yet to be proven) has been for years that if terrorism is "for real," places like Davos and events like the WEF would be primary targets.

The fact that such salons remain apparently immune convinces me more and more that "terrorism" is just one more concocted threat, used by the elite to manipulate the masses.

YMMV of course.

Of course it is, this type of manipulation has been going on for centuries.

 

[Dozdoats]

So why would anyone do the equivalent of charging a fully functional main battle tank with a single shot handgun?

Seems to me as if "single shot handguns" did OK in taking down the World Trade Center and the Pentagon ... if we are to believe the 'terrorist' narrative from the MSM that is.

Can't have it both ways, dude. Either it is, or either it isn't - but not BOTH.

 

[tanstaafl]

Seems to me as if "single shot handguns" did OK in taking down the World Trade Center and the Pentagon ... if we are to believe the 'terrorist' narrative from the MSM that is.

Can't have it both ways, dude. Either it is, or either it isn't - but not BOTH.

I hadn't realized the World Trade Center was defended to the point that attacking it would be like attacking a fully functional main battle tank. I was surprised the Pentagon wasn't defended, though.

 

[vestige]

One of my pet theories (yet to be proven) has been for years that if terrorism is "for real," places like Davos and events like the WEF would be primary targets.

The fact that such salons remain apparently immune convinces me more and more that "terrorism" is just one more concocted threat, used by the elite to manipulate the masses.

YMMV of course.

Yeah, considering the "shadow play" of surrogacy that the vast majority of such groups, whatever stripe they wear, actually represent in for lack of a better term "the Great Game", your "pet theory" has an awful lot going for it IMHO.

I concur wholeheartedly.

Seems mighty suspicious.

On another note:

Political leaders, CEOs and celebrities are gathering in Davos this week to discuss the world's most pressing issues.

Bono, Leonardo DiCaprio

WTH?

The only celebrity that has an opinion possibly worth considering at such a mtg would be Mr.Wizard. (and I think he is dead)

These celebrities are basically elite idiots who don't live in and are relatively unaffected by the real world.

 

[Housecarl]

I concur wholeheartedly.

Seems mighty suspicious.

On another note:



WTH?

The only celebrity that has an opinion possibly worth considering at such a mtg would be Mr.Wizard. (and I think he is dead)

These celebrities are basically elite idiots who don't live in and are relatively unaffected by the real world.

Think "court jesters".

 

[ShadowMan]

Wow....talk about the "head of the snake" all being in one place. Sure would be a shame if an avalanche took out the whole town and all the visitors in one clean swipe.

There is just something wrong with 1% having the wealth of half the entire planet.

 

[Housecarl]

Wow....talk about the "head of the snake" all being in one place. Sure would be a shame if an avalanche took out the whole town and all the visitors in one clean swipe.

There is just something wrong with 1% having the wealth of half the entire planet.

The bigger issue is what they do with it.

 

[Dozdoats]

There was once a guy named Pareto. His theory has seemed to work in in lots of arenas.

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto's Principle. While it may be misnamed, Pareto's Principle or Pareto's Law as it is sometimes called, can be a very effective tool to help you manage effectively. -- http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/Pareto081202.htm

However, an 80/20 distribution is NOT the same thing as a 99/1 distribution. Nature would seem to be out of kilter here.

 

[BetterLateThanNever]

Avalanche anyone?

^^This^^

Where is a good earthquake or avalanche when when you need one.

What a good way to get rid of a bunch of worthless politicians, business leaders and limousine (singers, actors etc.) liberals.

 

[Dosadi]

wonder how many avg joes would morn if a black hole opened up and sucked em all in?

 

[ShadowMan]

The fact that Putin isn't going to be there would scare the hell out of me.....HE HAS NUKES!! One well placed Tactical Nuke and POOF!! and talk about instant redistribution of wealth!

 

[brokenwings]

That would be one favor Putin could do for the whole world!!

 

[Buick Electra]

Avalanche anyone?

LOL!!! Send off a REALLY high frequency noise!!!

 

[Buick Electra]

Thanks so much for the very informative information on Davos House Carl!

 

[Buick Electra]

Interesting!

Posted for fair use.

Trump Fear Stalks Davos as Elite Pray for Spring Reality Check
by Jeff Black

If Donald Trump as president of the United States is the ghost that’s stalking Davos, many among the global elite hope he’ll be banished by spring. Others see that as wishful thinking.

“I think the nominees will be Donald Trump for the Republicans and Hillary Clinton” for the Democrats, Donald Baer, a former White House adviser under President Bill Clinton, said at a panel co-hosted by Bloomberg and WPP Plc. “The next year will be a very uncertain, chaotic period.”

The prospect of Trump in the White House is ratcheting up anxiety among the 2,500 business and political leaders gathered at the Swiss ski resort for the annual World Economic Forum. With less than two weeks before voting in primaries gets under way and Trump in the Republican Party lead, those who fear a rise in protectionism and economic mismanagement are speaking out against the billionaire property developer.

“Unfortunately I do think that if there were to be a Trump administration the casualty would likely be trade,” said Eric Cantor, a former Republican House Majority Leader and now vice chairman of Moelis & Company. “That’s a very serious prospect for the world.”

‘Disaster’

Cantor said he doesn’t think Trump will make it through the primaries, a common theme among Davos attendees who nevertheless are still talking about him. Trump’s positions --like a “temporary” ban on Muslims entering the country and the building of a wall on the Mexican border -- are earning him opprobrium (Had to look this one up: "1. the disgrace or the reproach incurred by conduct considered outrageously shameful; infamy. 2. a cause or object of such disgrace or reproach") in the mountain resort.

He has also railed at the loss of U.S. jobs to overseas competitors, and on Tuesday said that as president he would “get Apple to start building their damn computers and things” in the U.S., instead of China. A Trump administration would be a “disaster,” according to Beth Brooke-Marciniak, global vice chair of public policy at Ernst & Young LLP and a former adviser to the U.S. Treasury in the Clinton administration.

“The globe needs the U.S. to be strong,” she said. “The U.S. is still the horse that’s pulling the cart, and more so now with the capital outflows from emerging markets.”

Populist Wave

The presidential race shows that the U.S. is not immune to the wave of populism sweeping the globe. In the U.S. case, the economy has recovered faster than other developed nations from the global slump of 2008 and 2009, and yet wages haven’t kept pace with a rebound in corporate profits. That’s helping candidates like Trump and Bernie Sanders who say the system is rigged against average Americans.

While Trump’s specter looms large, not many assume he’ll actually make it to the White House.

“I am amazed at Davos about how many people are taking Trump as seriously as they are,” said Martin Sorrell, WPP’s chief executive. “I think it doesn’t matter who the Republicans put up, I think Hillary will win.”

Sorrell said he thinks the Republican nomination will go either to Trump or to Texas Senator Ted Cruz. On Wednesday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin endorsed Trump, lending the support of a Tea Party favorite. Still, that’s not a constituency with many members in Davos.

“If you bother to read some of the serious analysis of Trump’s support, you realize that it’s a very fragile thing and highly unlikely to deliver what he needs in the crucial first phase of the primaries,” said Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch professor of history at Harvard University. “By the time we get to March-April, it’s all over. I think there’s going to be a wonderful catharsis, I’m really looking forward to it: Trump’s humiliation. Bring it on.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-davos-as-elite-pray-for-spring-reality-check

 

[Dozdoats]

“If you bother to read some of the serious analysis of Trump’s support, you realize that it’s a very fragile thing and highly unlikely to deliver what he needs in the crucial first phase of the primaries,” said Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch professor of history at Harvard University. “By the time we get to March-April, it’s all over. I think there’s going to be a wonderful catharsis, I’m really looking forward to it: Trump’s humiliation. Bring it on.”

These people would not have managed to do many of the things they have done if they were not accomplished at self-delusion as well as deluding others. They are used to pulling strings and having things happen as they wish ... and that era may well be coming to a close.

I hope...

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-uses-davos-meetings-to-focus-on-syria-peace-talks/3155721.html

Syria, Iran, IS Discussed on Sidelines of Davos Forum

Pamela Dockins
Last updated on: January 21, 2016 1:31 PM

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — Efforts to launch a political transition in Syria, the plight of Americans missing in Iraq and the fight against Islamic State militants are among the issues that Secretary of State Kerry discussed Thursday in a series of meetings and interviews in Switzerland.

His talks took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, an annual gathering that brings together high-level government officials and corporate executives.

“This has a one stop shopping capacity that you only get otherwise I think at the U.N.,” said Kerry, in reference to the opportunities to meet with his counterparts and other officials during the forum.

Syria talks

U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura was among the officials that Kerry met with on Thursday.

Later, Kerry said there would be no "fundamental delay" in the U.N.-mediated talks on a political transition in Syria.

The U.N. set a January 25 start date for the start of proximity talks between the Syrian government and opposition. However, there has been debate over the make-up of the Syrian opposition that would be represented at the talks.

Kerry said there may be a delay of a "day or two" for invitations to the talks. Later, he noted that de Mistura had the ability to “issue whatever kinds of invitations he desires.”

Earlier, de Mistura said even if there are disputes over who will attend the U.N.-mediated talks, the peace process must go forward. "We need to maintain pressure" on all sides, he told CNN television, "We need to maintain momentum."

Americans missing in Iraq

Kerry also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Asked about three Americans who disappeared in Iraq last week, Abadi said he doubts they were abducted by an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia, as some reports have indicated.

"We don't know if they have been kidnapped," Abadi said. "They just went missing."

Kerry later said he raised the issue during his talks with the prime minister, who had no information on the Americans’ status.

US – Iran relations

The secretary’s high-level meetings in Davos have come less than a week after world powers implemented the Iran nuclear agreement, and the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran for ballistic missile tests.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to the new penalties, saying it indicated the U.S. was “addicted” to using sanctions as a tool for diplomacy.

"We have made it very clear that we will use sanctions when we think they are appropriate," said Kerry.

The U.S. sanctions were imposed "judiciously and effectively," Kerry said, and the United States is looking now to "put to the test" Iran's willingness to reduce regional tensions.

Later, Kerry said he had met briefly with Zarif in Davos.

The U.S. Treasury Department estimates the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions has resulted in Iran having access to about $55 billion in previously frozen assets.

In an interview with CNBC, Kerry was asked if he believed some of that money could wind up in the hands of terrorists.

He said he thought some of the funds could end up in the hands of the controversial Iranian Revolutionary Guard, but added, there were no early indications of funds “going to that kind of endeavor.”

Kerry also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who strongly opposed the major world powers' nuclear agreement with Iran.

Fighting Islamic State

The talks in Davos are taking place ahead of Kerry’s February 2 meeting in Rome, with about two dozen foreign ministers from countries part of the anti-Islamic State coalition in Iraq and Syria.

“We are going to prevent them [Islamic State] from being the threat in Syria and Iraq that they are today by the end of the year, said Kerry, in a roundtable with reporters.

Kerry will address the World Economic Forum on Friday before heading to Saudi Arabia, the next leg of a five-nation tour that also includes stops in Asia.

In a Wednesday speech, Vice President Joe Biden urged executives to support initiatives that would strengthen the middle class saying, "Embrace the obligation to your workers as well as to your shareholders."

 

[MtnGal]

The World Economic Forum web site

http://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2016

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

20-23 January 2016 Davos-Klosters, Switzerland

Our Mission
The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests. The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.

Our activities are shaped by a unique institutional culture founded on the stakeholder theory, which asserts that an organization is accountable to all parts of society. The institution carefully blends and balances the best of many kinds of organizations, from both the public and private sectors, international organizations and academic institutions.

We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

 

[Zoner]

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Bill Holter: "Americans would notice if financial markets collapsed or were shut down. Russia and China know full well the situation in the West. It is a bankruptcy waiting to happen as everything is fractional reserve and running on maximum margin while the underlying system is shrinking and no longer supplying enough liquidity. The way I see it, the stage is truly set for a financial attack on anything and everything American. Is it implausible for the Saudis to announce they will sell oil in yuan to China? Or Iran to withdraw their funds from U.S. institutions and then bid for gold with these funds? If the East does in fact have jamming or hacking capability of Western technology, is it far fetched for them to show it very publicly in one or several situations? How would the “bookies” react if they saw a prize fighter enter one of the later rounds with his hands tied behind his back?

You can laugh at the above speculation if you choose but it is all quite plausible and actually probable if you look at where things are and what posturing has already been done leading up to this. Western markets, ALL markets are a fraud. Our Treasury market is one where the biggest buyer is “our self” …the Fed and the ESF. We have already seen $1 trillion of foreign reserves offloaded with no effect on yield nor the dollar itself and NO ACCOUNTING ANYWHERE as to “who” bought these offloaded central bank reserves. Accounting fraud and no rule of law here, nothing to see …please move along! You can laugh if you want and say Saudi Arabia will never move toward the East … Saudi Arabia is now in very dire straits financially, who do you think they will side with when Western markets melt down? Do you really believe they will go down trying to support our dollar?

The stage has already been set. The East knows the West has bankrupted. They know we have no gold left because they have it! They can see the finances of the various cities, states and federal government. They know the situation in derivatives is one giant mountain of dynamite waiting for a spark. They know our rule of law is gone and bail ins of depositor funds is next. We are monetizing their sales of Treasury securities. “We” are fooling no one except ourselves. And by “ourselves” I am talking about the vast majority of the population who have grown to rely on the government for everything. Everyone knows we are broke, yet ask anyone and the odds highly favor you will hear “the government will never let it happen”. Even if you are silly enough to believe this you must ask yourself, what are the ramifications when markets become “make believe”?

Standing watch,

Bill Holter
Holter-Sinclair collaboration
Comments welcome! bholter@hotmail.com
http://www.jsmineset.com/
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