Davos in winter, like most other Swiss villages in the Alps, is a white cereal bowl with frosted gingerbread houses in the middle. Unlike other winter retreats, it is also the site of the annual World Economic Forum, a socializing and business retreat for the world economic and political elite. I wanted to study the Davos change-makers in their natural habitat, so I obtained a pass through some well-connected friends, and visited for a week.
Only one in five people believe that the system is working for them. Clearly something is happening. Compared to last year, where only 5 percent of CEOs believed that growth would slow down, this year the number surged to 30 percent. With dulled optimism and the noted absence of major world leaders, the atmosphere at Davos was somewhat depressed and disoriented.
Xi, Trudeau, Macron, May, and Trump were all too consumed with domestic politics to bother. Davos has at least two tiers. The white badges, and the hotel badges. One is the prestige generator; the other gains by association.
The white badges keep themselves segregated from the hotel badges, who are all-too-aware of their separate group identity. Following an uneventful flight into Zurich on Sunday, I promptly took a three hour train to my hotel at one of the comfortable person villages in the vicinity of Davosβwhich itself has a much larger population of about 11,, and where the architecture projects a more modern atmosphere.
This makes sense. The seasonal population swells of the WEF means that there is a huge demand for building spaceβso much so that most businesses on the main Davos promenade vacate the premises entirely and lease out their venues at exorbitant rates. But immaculate Swiss urban planning is not the first thing you notice upon arrival at the WEF. After spilling out of the train and onto the Davos promenade, you encounter Swiss police officers carrying MP5 submachine guns, and snipers in snow camouflage dotting the rooftops.
