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A surprising, and ironic, vote of confidence yesterday in traditional newspapers — from two people who might be regarded as among the biggest threats to the survival of the print media, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google. Page and Brin still believe in a real future for the printed press, they reveal. But it is hardly a ringing endorsement: Larry gets all his news needs fulfilled online, while Sergey reads The New York Times – but only on Sundays. “It’s nice,” says Brin.
The World Economic Forum is nothing if not a platform for pursuit of enlightened self-interest. So plaudits for chutzpah go to Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of WPP, the advertising titan, for seizing an opportune moment for special pleading yesterday.
Delivering a vote of thanks to Alistair Darling, after the Trade Secretary addressed business leaders at a CBI lunch, Mr Sorrell drew the Cabinet minister’s attention to the fact that the Government has dropped from being Britain’s biggest advertiser in terms of how much it spends on ads in relation to its turnover, to just third place. “Maybe election year will be our salvation,” Mr Sorrell said, hopefully.
Despite being among the most prominent socialists at Davos’s festival of capitalism, Ken Livingstone is one of the few bigwigs to sport a tie. The London Mayor says the neckwear is insulation in a chilly climate. “It’s cold, I’m 61, and when you’re 61, you’ll wear a tie in winter, too,” he protests.
"It may be called the World Economic Forum, but most of the conversations this year have been about politics, not economics," Anatole Kaletsky writes in his daily report from Davos.
"Partly this reflects the remarkably benign economic conditions that everyone foresees for 2007: a so-called Goldilocks expansion … Turning to geopolitics, by contrast, there seems to be nothing but bad news: the quagmire in Iraq keeps getting bloodier and deeper; terrorism is spreading; global warming is accelerating; nuclear proliferation is out of control … What some of the shrewder financiers at Davos are arguing, however, is that for stockmarket investors all this geopolitical anxiety could actually be good news.
Read the piece here. To have your say, click "comments" below, or fill in the form at the foot of this blog post.
This time last year, at Davos, John Thain, the chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, expressed a strong interest in acquiring a European exchange, with the London Stock Exchange high on its list of potential targets.
Today, at Davos, Mr Thain, refused to rule out a takeover approach to the LSE, if the current bid from its American rival Nasdaq fails. Over breakfast, he said that a strong case could be made for the merger of the world's two strongest exchange brands, the NYSE and LSE, and could see greater long-term benefits in a tie-up.
He is already well on the way to making good last year's pledge. The NYSE is now close to completing its $10.2 billion (£5.2 billion) agreed merger with Euronext, which operates exchanges in Paris, Brussels, Lisbon and Amsterdam. The bid was launched in June last year.
More on the story here.
Have your say on what the future of the London Stock Exchange should be below.
Spotted last night in Davos: Lots of “dodgy CEO bopping” at the McKinsey bash, according to our source. Digby Jones flew the flag for Blighty, apparently, dancing to the Rolling Stones’ "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", performed, we hear, by “the same band who played at Paul McCartney’s [most recent] wedding” – though not sure if that counts as a ringing endorsement?
We also hear that Ken Livingstone spent at least part of the evening “hanging out” with David Cameron. Strange bedfellows, indeed.
 With Bill Gates today due to discuss innovation in foreign aid with Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, and the world's richest man also participating on a panel on Africa with Tony Blair, Bono and President Mbeki of South Africa, philanthropy is high on today's Davos agenda. David Robertson, Business Correspondent of The Times reports on the charitable credentials of the corporate sector.
To download the audio report, click here.
Is his renowned loathing of Gordon Brown leading Peter Mandelson to mutate into a Cameroonian Tory? Perhaps. The EU Trade Commissioner and former Cabinet minister ran into the Conservative leader in Davos yesterday. After Mandy taunted “Dave” that there were no votes to be found in the Alps, Mr Cameron quickly shot back that with Gordon as the incoming Labour leader, presumably Mr Mandelson would be voting true blue at the next election. Mr Mandelson’s arch but Delphic reply: “It’s a no brainer.” Gary Duncan
For more from the Davos Diary, read The Times tomorrow.
Two audio reports from the snowy streets of Davos from James Harding, The Times business editor.
The first reports on Chinese attitudes to Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, a man Chinese bankers say has realised that Beijing will not be bullied. To download it click here.
The second lifts the lid on the eventful secret life of a British executive sitting on a Chinese bank's board. Lovely story. To download it click here.
 Carlos Ghosn is in Davos and has been talking to James Harding, The Times Business Editor. Mr Ghosn, nicknamed “Le Costcutter”, was dispatched by Renault to lead Nissan in 1999 and was soon credited with turning around the ailing group’s fortunes. Such was the Brazilian-born boss’s popularity after the revamp, an animated cartoon of him appeared on Japanese TV.
However, today he said is one of the few carmakers to have definitely ruled himself out of buying Aston Martin, the prestige marque put on the block by Ford. In fact, he said he has no interest in buying James Bond's favourite brand. He did say, however, that he is open to future alliances in the Renault-Nissan mould. The assertion comes some months after General Motors was goaded into talks with Mr Ghosn over a future tie-up that would have resulted in a US-French-Japanese giant by combining GM with Renault-Nissan. Those talks, prompted by Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire investor who is GM's largest stakeholder, broke down in October.
As that was happening, Mr Ghosn – also dubbed “The Icebreaker” – politely reminded his inquisitors it was not his idea in the first place.
A quick tour of the Davos blogosphere reveals:
No celebs? Defamer.com says the "organisers of this year's World Economic Forum are eschewing the participation of Hollywood do-gooders whose attendance often overshadowed the substance of the 2006 event". But even if (most of) the stars have stayed at home, the parties still matter, says the New York Times, which has a piece on the hottest ticket at this year's Davos, for the Google shindig. "Like the conference itself, the Google party is known for mixing together influential figures from different spheres — but with more expensive cocktails," it says.
Meanwhile, back in the conference hall… the Guardian's Julian Glover reckons Mrs Merkel's speech on climate change last night "was duller than boring, but in the end what matters is that she's got the power to do things". The Eco Log blog isn’t so sure. It joins the throng of commentators to remark on the snow this year - which only appeared at the last minute in an uncharacteristically mild winter in the Alps. "Trouble is, Davos Man is indifferent as to whether he brings his ski poles or nine irons next year," it says.
 Lord Browne of Madingley has cancelled his trip to Davos, where he was scheduled to co-chair the World Economic Forum. Some at Davos concluded that he was ducking the event, but BP soon put the record straight. The chief executive has a severe bout of flu. Lord Browne was due to deliver a major announcement on climate change, but WEF organisers will get no help from BP — the oil giant appears unaware that he was due to make this announcement.
Continue reading "Browne bows out" »
Climate change is one of the key themes of this World Economic Forum but it is difficult to create debate when everyone agrees. Today’s climate change discussion was a good example of this lack of furore. Consensus ruled the day, David Robertson writes.
Continue reading "Consensus breaks out over climate change" »
 What's behind America's ongoing crackdown on alleged white-collar criminals? James Harding, Business Editor of The Times, has been speaking to Steve Forbes, president and chief executive of Forbes Inc, and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine (left), and has uncovered one theory...
To download the audio report, click here.
It seems that pre-Davos optimism about the resumption of World Trade Organisation negotiations was not misplaced, David Charter reports. A road map on how to revive the stalled talks could emerge from the ski resort after 30 ministers from 26 countries decided to hold an informal summit here on Saturday.
It will be the first face-to-face talks between trade negotiators since the so-called Doha Round collapsed in July.
Momentum has been building despite deep divisions over farm subsidies and tariffs with President George Bush urging a fresh push after meeting Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, at the White House earlier this month. Some WTO negotiators believe that if the talks resume in the next few weeks, a breakthrough deal on agriculture could be possible by May.
Continue reading "WTO deal a possibility" »
The “Davoisie” (the Davos elite and this blog’s word of the day – see below) has been brought rudely down to earth - after the helicopters ferrying political and business leaders to the Swiss ski resort were grounded by bad weather. Angela Merkel arrived at Zurich airport in the early afternoon – to face a 93 mile journey to the World Economic Forum by car amid heavy snow. “People forget that sometimes it snows in winter,” a spokesman said. At a ski resort?
 CNBC's debate on issues green was packed out this morning. Despite the hype over the environment at this year's event, we hear that the business broadcaster had been worried over whether its session would prove a draw.
CNBC's anxious producers needn't have worried. But we wonder whether the crowds were best explained by concerns over the state of the planet - or by the fact Maria Bartiromo (pictured right), CNBC's "Money Honey", a presenter who yesterday found herself in the headlines, rather than merely delivering them, was hosting?
What others are making of this year's event:
David Rothkopf kicks us off with a timely reminder on the Foreign Policy blog: "Remember as you read that while Davos is a gathering of world leaders, it does not necessarily reflect the real world," he says. "There is a staggering divide between the perspectives of the Davoisie and the rest of us."
That poses an interesting question of whether a super-star blogger such as Arianna Huffington qualifies as a member of the Davos set, or as a truly independent outsider and a bona fide "blogger". She's eager to be seen as a Davos debutant and describes her first "Davos Moment". Or should that be "DavOHs Moment" - read the piece.
Fellow blogger grandee Jeff Jarvis has a few clips of his first impressions at the World Economic forum - a "Davos Minute".
Elsewhere, Deutsche Well says that an exceptionally mild first half of winter in the Swiss Alps is helping to fuel growing concern about climate change. The great Davos talking shop is like no other conference on earth, says the Independent. "But how did it acquire such lustre? And where exactly do you land your helicopter?..." Class and geography are more significant than age in shaping who we are, claims the Guardian's Larry Elliot after rubbing shoulders with a few attendees.
 And we're off. More than 2,400 "global leaders", including more than 800 company chief executives will descend on Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum this week, to take part in the world's most exclusive networking event.
The highlight of today's planned sessions promises to be the opening address by Angela Merkel the German Chancellor (pictured left, speaking at last year's event), whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union and leads the G8. Ms Merkel has said her speech will focus on climate change. The subject will feature in 17 sessions at Davos over the coming days. Indeed, the organisers are this year's annual meeting will be one of the "greenest" ever.
Is this just hot air from the body behind the planet's grandest talk-fest? Tony Blair, for one, claims not. Talking about his hopes for Davos ahead of the event, he said: "Talks between leaders could help outline elements of a future post Kyoto Climate framework that could then be agreed at the German G8, restart the stalled WTO talks and galvinise the will to deliver on our 2005 promises on Africa."
Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, said on the WEF blog: "The moment to act is now ... Many of those present in Davos have the power to move decisively on global emission reductions ... the world is looking to them to rise to this crucial challenge."
So could the mood be changing over the environment? Davos will provide an opportunity to judge which way the wind is blowing. China and India both have senior representatives who will take to the stage to discuss the issue. Industry will also have a voice - Lord Browne, the BP chief executive, is among those due to quiz the German Chancellor this afternoon.
George W Bush, leader of the world's biggest polluter, will not be there. But he weighed in on the issue last night in his State of the Union address. “America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil,” he said. “These technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment ... and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change.”
Promises of breakthoughs aside, how best to shift attitudes remains a serious challenge in itself. According to a PwC survey published today, 40 per cent of those CEOs polled expressed concern about the threats posed by climate change. That figure fell to only 18 per cent among North American executives.
Davos says it is taking environment change seriously - but we may have to wait some time to see if action emerges.
More on the State of the Union here.
Click here for more briefing papers on climate change.
Rhys Blakely
Continue reading "Greenest Davos ever?" »
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