A new ‘Davos’

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos has long been viewed as an elite gathering of the richest in the world. For years, it’s had an aura about it. But in this increasingly uncertain world where bullies pose as world leaders, the event has been losing much of its sheen. Two decades ago, as a rookie journalist, I watched amazed as the best from our brethren were handpicked to cover the much-coveted event. Donning fashionable winter coats and facing heavy snowfall, India’s premium business journalists made many an India Inc. friend at the town nestled in the Swiss Alps. Yours truly, while interviewing iconic leaders and watershed events, was almost always deployed to cover deprivation. Looking back, I think it made me a better journalist; I know it made me an evolved person. But at that time, who didn’t want to be part of a news story that looked more like a paid European ski vacation?

But the world has changed, and with it has emerged a new world order. Megalomaniacs have been waging war, both internally and externally. Immigrants are the new enemies as borders close and climate change naysayers assume the central stage. The relevance of ‘Davos’, as the WEF event came to be popularly known, is also, therefore, now in question. Much like the importance of the United Nations or NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) that feel more toothless today, the Davos seems to be taking place in a parallel universe while Donald Trump has pretty much invaded Venezuela for its oil, threatened to acquire Greenland, and continues its his tariff war with countries such as India.

Policy, business, trade talks happening on one hand, and stark raving lunatics deciding to usurp nations on the other. It’s an unimaginable time which feels both surreal and dystopian. I mean, how many times are we watching real-life news unfold and baulk at its incredulity?! It feels like a joke that unfortunately elicits fear, worry, along with laughter for its dark humour quotient. The single most affirming of these discordant times came in the form of an open letter written by almost 400 millionaires and billionaires timed to coincide with the WEF Davos event. The letter, signed by eminent personalities such as actor and film-maker Mark Ruffalo, musician Brian Eno, and film producer and philanthropist Abigail Disney, highlighted the emergence of a highly unequal world. Their emotive letter made a strong call for action, urging higher taxes on the super-rich. “A handful of global oligarchs with extreme wealth have bought up our democracies; taken over our governments; gagged the freedom of our media; placed a stranglehold on technology and innovation; deepened poverty and social exclusion; and accelerated the breakdown of our planet,” the letter said. “What we treasure, rich and poor alike, is being eaten away by those intent on growing the gulf between their vast power and everyone else…We all know this. When even millionaires, like us, recognise that extreme wealth has cost everyone else everything else, there can be no doubt that society is dangerously teetering off the edge of a precipice.”

The letter is a sobering declaration that also indirectly makes a persuasive case for revamped, proactive organisations that can ensure the bridging of this ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Fuelled by economic progress, are nations leaving their poorest behind? Annual statistics point to increased global poverty that has only been exacerbated post-pandemic. The World Bank notes that “global progress toward reducing poverty remains too slow—at the current pace, it could still take decades to eradicate extreme poverty”. As per the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in 2024, about 1.5 billion people were surviving on less than USD 4.2 per day, while 3.8 billion people had less than USD 8.3 per day. Almost 75 per cent of the world’s population is living in middle-income nations today as opposed to 27 per cent in 1990.

But if the reins of the world lie in the hands of a coterie of self-serving ultra-rich, can a reversal be expected?

As coined by eminent economist Peter Atwater, the US is experiencing a “K-shaped economy” post Covid-19 pandemic, where the divide between the rich and poor has expanded since 2020. Over the years, it’s become more apparent that this trend is not limited to the US alone. The rich operating in tech, finance, and high-income grossers have become more affluent, while small businesses, low-wage earners, women workers and so on, have suffered, and the poor have become more impoverished. For congregations such as the one organised by WEF to be realistically successful and effective, world leaders would need to candidly accept this unequal world and implement an action plan that is better suited to this cosmocracy. The current form is way past its expiration date.

Views expressed are personal. The writer is an author and media entrepreneur