How George Soros Upstaged Donald Trump at Davos

The big news at Davos on Thursday was supposed to be Donald Trump’s arrival. According to reports from the Swiss ski resort, much of the town was locked down for his descent from the skies in a seven-aircraft chopper-cade. Once on the ground, the U.S. President proceeded to bilateral meetings with Theresa May and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Ministers of Britain and Israel, respectively.

Predictably enough, Trump rapidly made some Trumpian news by needlessly insulting the Palestinian leaders and threatening to withhold U.S. financial aid. But on Thursday night Trump ended up getting upstaged by another elderly Manhattan billionaire: George Soros. As the President was hosting a dinner for various business leaders, Soros was across town, talking about the various threats facing Western democracies, a category in which he included the Trump Administration.

Justin Trudeau’s excellent but meaningless Davos adventure

It’s hard to know what to make of Justin Trudeau’s first appearance before the moneyed elite in Davos, Switzerland.

He told assembled corporate moguls that Canada is open for business. He schmoozed with Hollywood movie stars.

Like Stephen Harper before him, the current prime minister bragged.

Justin Trudeau: Foreign Investment 'Key Priority' For Growth, Jobs In Canada

DAVOS, Switzerland — The federal Liberals appear ready to swing open the doors to more foreign investment in Canada with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling it a key priority for his government.

Trudeau says foreign investment is needed to help economic growth in Canada and the Liberals plan to work with national and international companies to create jobs domestically.

World Economic Forum Urged To Fight Inequality As Staggering New Numbers Released

DAVOS, Switzerland -- The world's political and business elite are being urged to do more than pay lip service to growing inequalities around the world as they head off for this week's World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Two reports published Monday, from Oxfam and public relations firm Edelman, warned that the widening gap between the haves and have-nots since the global financial crisis is undermining a decades-long effort to reduce global poverty and fueling the rise of populist politicians.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon At Davos: 'We're Doing The Right Thing'

DAVOS, Switzerland — Leading bankers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, are on the defensive amid demands to regulate their industry more closely following the financial crisis that battered the global economy.

Bankers have been widely blamed for the financial crisis that has dramatically reduced the living standards of many in the world, whether they're in work or not.

No apologies for pricey limo tab for ministers at Davoscanda

OTTAWA — The Harper government is making no apologies for spending more than $20,000 to ferry three cabinet ministers around the tiny Swiss village of Davos last year.

Documents obtained by the NDP show that four vehicles were hired at a cost of just over $23,000 while the ministers attended an exclusive retreat for government and business leaders from around the globe.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, then industry minister Tony Clement and then international trade minister Peter Van Loan represented Canada at the annual Davos conference in 2011.

Goodbye Charlie Brown: the sequel

It doesn’t happen often, but what a beautiful sight to see when it does. Every once in a while the Canadian public flexes its muscles and tells a prime minister: “Oh no you don’t, buddy!”

That is what’s happening on pensions. We are witnessing Stephen Harper’s “Goodbye Charlie Brown” moment.

For reasons known only to Mr. Harper, last week he chose to muse about Canada’s aging population and the impact on the future of public pensions at a gathering of the world’s elite at a luxury Swiss resort. He did not make a statement in our House of Commons, where it would have signaled a respect for the Canadian people. No, instead it was delivered to that august crowd in Davos, Switzerland. If anyone wonders where the “1 percent” hangs out, just go to Davos in January.

Our Tim Horton’s Prime Minister flew by taxpayer-funded luxury private jet to the five star luxury resort in the heart of the Swiss Alps where royals take ski holidays. This is an annual gathering of central bankers, investment bankers, hedge fund managers, private equity titans, consultants and think-tank types. So, why did we pay for our prime minister and his sizable entourage to speak to this international audience of billionaires?

To talk to them about the “unsustainability” of Canada’s pension system, of course!

Mr. Harper and his finance minister have taken to giving sermons to the world on the wonderful work they have done to stabilize and grow Canada’s economy. They talk incessantly about how wonderful our banks are, how healthy our balance sheet is, and how, by implication, just plain bloody smart and talented Stephen Harper and his ministers are.

Harper's Davos speech, fiscal profligacy and economic growth

The Prime Minister's speech at Davos was, I would bet, written by Stephen Harper himself. It bore the stamp of his long-standing contempt for the European welfare state.

He all but said that the Europeans had brought the crisis on themselves through trying to live beyond their fiscal means:

"As I look around the world, as I look particularly at developed countries, I ask whether the creation of economic growth, and therefore jobs, really is the number 1 policy priority everywhere?

"Or is it the case, that in the developed world, too many of us have, in fact, become complacent about our prosperity, taking our wealth as a given, assuming it is somehow the natural order of things, leaving us instead to focus primarily on our services and entitlements?

"Is it a coincidence that as the veil falls on the financial crisis, it reveals beneath it, not just too much bank debt, but too much sovereign debt, too much general willingness to have standards and benefits beyond our ability or even willingness to pay for them.

European Summit: German Austerity Blues

“Nein! Nein! Nein!” roars today’s headline on Ta Nea, Greece’s largest circulation daily, over a caricature of Angela Merkel controlling a map of Greece with puppet strings. This is not just the usual Greek rage against the EU’s austerity measures: Last Friday the Financial Times made public a German proposal to take over Greece’s finances so extreme as to look like parody. In order to receive the next tranche of its bailout, the document explains, Greece would have to agree a “transfer of national budgetary sovereignty” to a European commissar, “preferably through constitutional amendment,” making an absolute commitment to service its debt before spending public funds on anything else

Merkel has since backed off from the document, but whoever leaked it obviously wasn’t aiming at a warm, candle-lit atmostphere between Greece and Germany at the ongoing negotiations for a write-down of Greece’s private sector debt, or at today’s European summit in Brussels (where there’s also a general strike in progress against austerity measures). Once again, the Greek crisis is at the heart of the talks, though it’s not on the published agenda. The official business on the table includes the new European fiscal compact, due to be signed in March, which would punish states that exceed fixed deficit and debt levels and has been described by one official as a plan to outlaw Keynesianism; and measures to promote growth and create jobs, especially for the young, who are now being tagged as a “lost generation.”

If that sounds a bit schizophrenic, that’s because it is: the tensions at the heart of the Eurozone, between German-style take-no-prisoners fiscal discipline and a more growth-oriented Gallic approach, are being pulled to breaking point. Germany, as Europe’s engine, still holds most of the cards. But with all the southern countries now in crisis (the bond markets are dropping Portugal; Spanish unemployment is at 22 percent, and 51 percent for the young; Italy will be in recession at least until the end of 2013 even though Mario Monti’s cuts have made him the darling of the Eurocrats; Greece’s economy is in meltdown), it’s become obvious to almost everyone else that austerity isn’t working. Financiers tend to speak softly: when IMF chief Christine Lagarde acknowledged earlier this month that austerity “could strangle growth prospects”, and when the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s pointed out that reform “based on…fiscal austerity alone risks becoming self-defeating,” what they really meant was, Wake up and smell the coffee, we’re heading for the cliff.

Euro crisis, protest movements shape Davos meeting

Europe's crippling debt crisis dominated the world's foremost gathering of business and political leaders, but for the first time the growing inequality between the planet's haves and have-nots became an issue, thanks largely to the Arab Spring uprisings, the Occupy movement and other protests around the globe.

The mood at the end of the five-day meeting in Davos was somber, and more than 2,500 VIPs headed home Sunday concerned about what lies ahead in 2012. Plenty of champagne flowed in this alpine ski resort — but the atmosphere was flat and the bubbling enthusiasm of some past World Economic Forums was noticeably absent.

Despite some guarded optimism about Europe's latest attempts to stem the eurozone crisis, fears remain that turmoil could return and spill over to the rest of the world. And there were no answers to the widening inequality gap, but a mounting realization that economic growth must include the poor, that job creation is critical, and that affordable food, housing, health care and education need to part of any solution.

Just before the forum began, the International Monetary Fund reduced its forecast for global growth in 2012 to 3.3 percent from the 4 percent pace it projected in September. Many other economic forecasters also predict a slowing economy, including New York University's Nouriel Roubini, who is widely acknowledged to have predicted the crash of 2008 and who said he might be “even slightly more bearish” on the new IMF forecast.

Harper's fixes aren't for the long term

Does anyone else find it odd that Stephen Harper should choose to go to a high town in Switzerland to deliver a speech from the Throne?

At least that's the way the prime minister's address to the other movers and shakers of the world at Davos seems to have been perceived by a good chunk of the Canada's news media.

"Harper's Grand Plan" proclaimed one front-page headline. Many others predicted "major changes" are ahead for a lot of us, bad ones for old-age pensioners, the sick, the halt and the lame, and good ones for those who seek to profit from Canada's natural wealth.

Harper sometimes has to try hard to overcome his natural humility. It took a special effort from him to leave Parliament Hill (elevation 70 metres) to climb to Davos (1,560 metres) to deliver his sermon from a more appropriate mount.

It was clear his message was meant for home consumption. Other concerns of world leaders at Davos, such as the Euro rot, seemed hardly worth mentioning.

At World Economic Forum, Fear of Global Contagion Dominates

DAVOS, Switzerland -- They came, they feasted on smoked sturgeon and black truffle risotto, drank liquor paid for by global banks, endured dozens of security checks, and tried not to fall down in the snow. They talked about the perilous state of the global economy and the future of capitalism. Then, they headed back to their home countries -- many in chauffeured limousines, some by private jet.

But as the people who run much of the planet wrapped up the annual festival of influence known as the World Economic Forum on Saturday, any sense of achievement was hard to discern. The participants arrived amid elevated unemployment in many economies, worries about government budget deficits, and fears that contagion from a financial crisis in Europe could infect the rest of the world. They went home with all of these worries intact, and perhaps reinforced.

Nouriel Roubini, the economist who -- not for nothing -- is known as "Doctor Doom," noted that world leaders are divided on a great array of crucial issues, from arguments over trade imbalances and currency valuations to the threats posed by Iran and North Korea and the challenge of climate change.

"On all these issues that require international coordination, there is no agreement," he said during a Saturday morning panel. "It's a world of chaos that can lead to potential conflicts."

Topless Protesters At Davos Forum: Three Shirtless Ukrainian Women Detained

DAVOS, Switzerland — Three topless Ukrainian protesters were detained Saturday while trying to break into an invitation-only gathering of international CEOs and political leaders to call attention to the needs of the world's poor. Separately, demonstrators from the Occupy movement marched to the edge of the gathering.

After a complicated journey to reach the heavily guarded Swiss resort town of Davos, the Ukrainians arrived at the entrance to the complex where the World Economic Forum takes place every year.

With temperatures around freezing in the snow-filled town, they took off their tops and tried to climb a fence before being detained. "Crisis! Made in Davos," read one message painted across a protester's torso, while others held banners that said "Poor, because of you" and "Gangsters party in Davos."

Davos police spokesman Thomas Hobi said the three women were taken to the police station and told that they weren't allowed to demonstrate. He said they would be released later Saturday.

The activists are from the group Femen, which has become popular in Ukraine for staging small, half-naked protests to highlight a range of issues including oppression of political opposition. They have also conducted protests in some other countries.

At World Economic Forum, Fear of Global Contagion Dominates

DAVOS, Switzerland -- They came, they feasted on smoked sturgeon and black truffle risotto, drank liquor paid for by global banks, endured dozens of security checks, and tried not to fall down in the snow. They talked about the perilous state of the global economy and the future of capitalism. Then, they headed back to their home countries -- many in chauffeured limousines, some by private jet.

But as the people who run much of the planet wrapped up the annual festival of influence known as the World Economic Forum on Saturday, any sense of achievement was hard to discern. The participants arrived amid elevated unemployment in many economies, worries about government budget deficits, and fears that contagion from a financial crisis in Europe could infect the rest of the world. They went home with all of these worries intact, and perhaps reinforced.

Nouriel Roubini, the economist who -- not for nothing -- is known as "Doctor Doom," noted that world leaders are divided on a great array of crucial issues, from arguments over trade imbalances and currency valuations to the threats posed by Iran and North Korea and the challenge of climate change.

"On all these issues that require international coordination, there is no agreement," he said during a Saturday morning panel. "It's a world of chaos that can lead to potential conflicts."

European officials confronted a palpable sense of impatience and resentment from their counterparts, drawing accusations that they have imperiled the fate of the globe by repeatedly failing to prop up ailing member states.

Economist who predicted 2008 crash sees even more tough times ahead

DAVOS, Switzerland — Economist Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed “Dr. Doom” for his gloomy predictions in the run-up to the financial meltdown four years ago, says the fallout from that crisis could last the rest of this decade.

Roubini, widely acknowledged to have predicted the crash of 2008, sees tough times ahead for the global economy and is warning that without major policy changes things can still get much worse.

Until Europe radically reforms itself and the U.S. gets serious about its own debt mountain, he said, the world economy will continue to stumble along to the detriment of large chunks of the world’s population who will continue to see their living standards under pressure, even if they have a job.

Roubini, a professor of economics and international business at New York University, spoke in an interview this week with The Associated Press at a dinner on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, where he is one of the hotly pursued stars.

Looking at economic prospects this year, he agreed with the International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast that the global economy is weakening and said he might be “even slightly more bearish” on its prediction of 3.3 per cent growth in 2012.

Harper: No more Mr. Nice Guy

And here we all thought Prime Minister Stephen Harper was going to Davos to lecture the Europeans about mending their profligate ways and learning from the hard-won experience of Canadians about how to manage their personal and national finances. Well, he did that - drawing from his five-year track record of deficit-spending, GST-cutting and frittering away the $13-billion surplus he inherited from the Liberals in 2006.

But the PM also issued a warning to Canadians that the good times are coming to an end for seniors, immigrants and anybody else dependent on the public purse for financial support. In other words, no more Mr. Nice Guy!

He told Canadians that they may have to work longer than 65 to collect Old Age Security benefits. He said immigrants will be increasingly chosen based on their ability to contribute to the Canadian economy, rather than for primarily humanitarian or family considerations.

He said energy policy will be dictated by the need of the economy, not environmentalists, First Nations and other "adversaries" to development. New mines and energy projects would be expedited and regulatory red tape cut in Harper's brave new world order.

What's not clear is the motivation and rationale behind Harper's radical reform agenda.

Is Canada in danger of falling ill to the European disease of under-financed, over-generous entitlements to the public? Well, not if you exclude MP pensions from the picture.

The Canada Pension Plan, thanks to reforms introduced in the 1990s by then finance minister Paul Martin, is actuarially sound. It doesn't pay all that much - a maximum of $11,800 per year - but at least it will be there when we need it.

In Davos, IMF chief suggests eurozone should pace spending cuts

The head of the International Monetary Fund appeared to making headway Saturday in her drive to boost the institution's financial firepower so that it can help Europe prevent its crippling debt crisis from further damaging the global economy.

Christine Lagarde, who replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the fund six months ago, is trying to ramp up the IMF's resources by $500 billion so it can help if more lending is needed in Europe or elsewhere. The IMF is the world's traditional lender-of-last-resort and has been involved in the bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Insisting that the IMF is a “safe bet” and that no country had ever lost money by lending to the IMF, Lagarde argued that increasing the size of the IMF's resources would help improve confidence in the global financial system. If enough money is in the fund the markets will be reassured and it won't be used, she said, using arguments similar to those that France has made about increasing Europe's own rescue fund.

“It's for that reason that I am here, with my little bag, to collect a bit of money,” she said at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps town of Davos.

Her plea appeared to find a measure of support from ministers of Britain and Japan, sizable IMF shareholders that would be expected to contribute to any money-raising exercise.

At Davos 2012 George Soros Says Austerity 'Will Push Europe Into A Deflationary Debt Spiral'

Billionaire investor George Soros warned of a possible breakup of the European Union at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, which he said would plunge the continent into political and economic turmoil. The crisis in Europe, he recently said, mirrors the broader crisis facing the global economy.

"Germany is acting as the taskmaster imposing tough fiscal discipline," Soros said on Wednesday, according to several news outlets. He said that this would create tensions "that could destroy the European Union."

In their response to the crisis, European leaders "had little understanding of how financial markets really work and did everything wrong," Soros said, according to The Wall Street Journal. He said that eurozone countries ultimately need to share their debt burden in some form and spend more to stimulate their economies, according to several news sources.

George Soros At Davos: Germany Relegating Weaker Euro Nations 'To The Status Of Third-World Countries'

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Philanthropist and former financier George Soros is urging European authorities to take more decisive action to protect the economies of Italy and Spain from financial strain.

He said at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday that the "half measures" adopted so far are insufficient to bring them back to growth.

Labeling Germany a task master imposing its strict anti-inflationary viewpoint on the rest of the continent, he said that weaker countries of the eurozone have been "relegated to the status of third world countries" having to pay back debts in a foreign currency.

He voiced fear that unrealistic demands placed on the weaker economies will exacerbate political tension within the European Union and proposed issuance of joint eurobonds.

Original Article
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Tories have put Canadians in a hole

OTTAWA — On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, bragging about our country, lecturing the Europeans and pointing to his agenda for the year ahead.

Harper gets a respectful hearing there because Canada is doing fairly well compared with the rest of the world, which is a key part of his message to voters at home.

Canada has the soundest banks in the world, he said, and the best net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7.
It sounds good, but he is choosing the numbers he cites carefully.

Canada does have the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio, but that includes only federal government debt, not provincial debt, which gives us a big break in comparison with countries whose health services are provided by the central government.

According to the International Monetary Fund’s Fiscal Monitor, Canada’s gross debt-to-GDP ratio, which includes other levels of debt, is 84 per cent, much better than Japan (220) and Italy (119), a bit better than the United States (91.6) but worse than France (81), Germany (80) and the United Kingdom (77).