A Small Peak At How The World's Elite Rule Over Us

Alpha-Status in Davos for Billionaire Means AA Car Access -- Bloomberg

Billionaire Rahul Bajaj is obsessed with his Davos car pass.

The 74-year-old chairman of Pune, India-based Bajaj Auto Ltd. (BJAUT), the nation’s second-largest motorcycle company and maker of the country’s popular three-wheeled auto rickshaw, has come to the Swiss Alpine resort town to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting every year since 1979. The sticker is one of the perks of being a veteran -- and a friend of the conference’s founder, Klaus Schwab.

“There are three kinds of people who get cars in Davos,” he said while riding in a brown Audi A8 to the forum’s Congress Centre from the Centralsport Hotel a half mile away. “The first are prime ministers and political leaders. The second are double-As, who can get into the private entrance. The third can drive around, but don’t have access to much. I’m a double-A.”

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My Comment: It must be good to be on top.

World Economic Forum Begins In Davos

Inflation, Food Prices Top Davos Agendas -- Wall Street Journal

DAVOS, Switzerland—With the risks of a double-dip recession apparently receding in most parts of the world, another economic challenge is emerging: inflation.

Rising prices for food, energy and other commodities are reducing the disposable incomes of poor people across the planet, providing a trigger for street protests in North Africa and posing a deep conundrum for policy makers world-wide.

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More News On The World Economic Forum At Davos

Medvedev uses Davos meet as defiant show against terror -- Yahoo News/AFP
Dmitri Medvedev’s Davos Keynote: Complete Transcript -- Forbes

Davos consensus: we're out of the woods, but... -- AP
Cautious CEOs counting on BRICs for growth -- Reuters
Davos 2011: Global economy in recovery mode -- BBC
Emerging economies, new norms dominate Davos forum -- Xinhuanet
China's economic micromanaging unsustainable: Belgian minister -- Reuters
Trade unions team up with Davos leaders on job creation strategy -- The Guardian
Wall Street Partying in Davos as Crisis Angst Fades -- Bloomberg
Davos ‘One Crazy, Exciting Circus’ -- New York Times
Global Development crashes the Davos party -- Reuters
Davos: Soros Speaks -- Yahoo Finance
Davos Summit Brings Together Big Leaders, Big Ideas, Big Expense Accounts -- NPR
The high Davos pricetag -- Elizabeth Dickinson, Foreign Policy
Davos Woman -- Joshua Keating, Foreign Policy
Davos: The Global Village and the Local Community -- Eboo Patel, Washington Post
The Davos barometer: Risks ahead -- Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Washington Post
Will Davos heed the warning signs? -- Larry Elliott, The Guardian

Davos Roundup: The Anti-Davos Edition -- Wall Street Journal
Davos Diary: Day One -- Nancy F. Koehn, Huffington Post
Davos 2011: Day 1 as it happened -- BBC
Day One: Davos -- FOX News

What`s On The Agenda At Davos During The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum in Davos: A Changed Global Reality -- Time Magazine

Say this for the young century: we live in interesting times. Not quite 2 1⁄2 years ago, the world economy tipped into the most severe downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s. World trade slowed sharply. Unemployment lines grew longer, especially in the old industrial economies. Financial institutions that had seemed as solid as granite disappeared as if they were no more substantial than a bunch of flowers in the hands of an old-style magician.

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More News On The World Economic Forum In Davos

At Davos, a litany of problems awaits leaders -- AP
DAVOS-Alarming array of risks faces leaders in Davos -- Reuters
At Davos, a litany of problems awaits leaders -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Davos 2011: adjusting to the world's new power balance -- BBC
Top bankers return to Davos -- Financial Times
What’s on the agenda at Davos? -- Financial Times
Davos Forecast: Crowded With a Chance of Optimism -- Wall Street Journal
Davos 2011: Who needs a World Economic Forum? -- BBC
Davos WEF 2011: Does all that talk make a difference? -- The Telegraph
A Hefty Price for Entry to Davos -- Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times

Davos Economic Forum In Switzerland Would Be Happy To Have Wikileaks Founder Assange As A Guest

Davos Economic Forum Wants Assange As Guest -- Montreal Gazette/AFP

The head of the Davos economic forum said yesterday he would have liked WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to attend next month's summit of world political and business elites in the Swiss ski resort.

"I should invite him," Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum, told Sunday newspaper SonntagsZeitung. "But it is not possible as he is not allowed to leave Britain."

Assange spent yesterday, his third full day under "mansion arrest," at a supporter's house in Britain while he fights extradition to Sweden to face questioning in connection of allegations of sexual assault.

"I will wait until Swedish justice clears him," Schwab said.

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My Comment: If he was able to show up, I am sure that if his presentation will be to an audience in which standing room only will be available.

Among The World's Financial Crisis, Leaders Meet In Davos

The Swiss mountain resort of Davos turns into a center for global economic discussions every year at the end of January. (Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

At Davos, Crisis Culls the Guest List -- New York Times

The Masters of the Universe no longer sit atop the magic mountain.

Not long ago, at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, Richard S. Fuld Jr. of Lehman Brothers held forth on the state of the global economy before mesmerized journalists and cowering subordinates while other Wall Street stars mingled after-hours with the likes of Claudia Schiffer, the German supermodel.

As business, government and nonprofit leaders trek up the peak originally made famous by Thomas Mann’s novel, but now better known for the gabfest that begins Tuesday, star power is no longer in, The New York Times’s Nelson D. Schwartz writes.

This year, politicians, not corporate titans, are poised to be the big draw, echoing the broader power shift away from the free market as one government after another tries to prop up its sinking economy.

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More News On The Economic Forum At Davos

Leaders flock to Davos to discuss economic crisis -- Reuters Alertnet
Leaders to flock to Davos to discuss economic crisis -- Khaleej Times
Less Glitter, More Substance Expected at Crisis-Aware Davos -- Deutsche-Welle
A chill wind blows through Davos as global crisis bites -- The Telegraph
FACTBOX-Details on World Economic Forum meeting in Davos -- Reuters
The globalization wisdom of David Paterson -- Foreign Policy Blog
Obama aide Jarrett to attend Davos economic forum -- International Herald Tribune
Inside Davos -- Global Post