Leaders.com
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Wealth
  • Master Classes
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Executives
    • Marketing and Sales
    • Social Media
    • Innovation
    • Women in Business
  • Leadership
    • Personal Growth
    • Company Culture
    • Public Speaking
    • Productivity
    • Hiring
    • Social Issues
    • Leaders
  • Wealth
    • Investing
    • Cryptocurrency
    • Retirement
    • Venture Capital
    • Loans and Borrowing
    • Taxes
    • Markets
    • Real Estate
  • Master Classes
  • Login
  • Subscribe
Social Issues

Armed security personnel stand guard on the rooftop of a Davos hotel (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

By Tyler Hummel Leaders Staff

Tyler Hummel

Tyler Hummel

Tyler Hummel is a news writer for Leaders Media. He was the Fall 2021 College Fix Fellow and Health Care...

Full bio


Learn about our editorial policy

Jan 19, 2023

The Cost And Critics Of Davos 

This week’s annual Davos meeting has been met with protests and condemnations from bipartisan political commentators. 

Key Details

  • The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has brought many critics from many points of view. 
  • Progressive activists are calling out the hypocrisy and inaction of wealthy elites gathering together to discuss contentious issues without doing anything to address problems like climate change and wealth inequality. 
  • Conservative commentators alternatively dismissed the event as either a gathering of hypocritical elites with delusions of totalitarian control or tyrannical global controllers eager to take over the world.

Why It is Important 

Scores of business leaders, policymakers, and celebrities fly into Switzerland every year to attend Davos and its dozens of panels discussing some of the most severe problems facing the world today. Activists on both sides of the political aisle see the event as hypocritical and out of touch. 

Davos is an event exclusively for the ultra-wealthy and powerful. It is one of the most prohibitively expensive regular events in the world, with the cost of admission reportedly exceeding $250,000, apartment rentals costing $15,000 per night, and concession hot dogs costing $43, according to MarketWatch. 

While Davos 2023 may not directly affect government or corporate policies going into this year, the ideas that are discussed there are all already deeply entrenched in the business world, with many significant CEOs and politicians embracing ideas like stakeholder capitalism, ESG, and a clean energy transition. 

The Progressive Viewpoint 

Davos, Switzerland, has had several dozen demonstrators since the opening night of the event. According to Euronews, members of several European socialist groups, including Swiss Socialist Youth, Strike WEF, and Greenpeace, protested outside of the event this week, demanding taxes against the ultra-wealthy and carrying signs saying “World Economic Failure: Climate Justice NOW.” 

Climate activist Greta Thunberg criticized the WEF for allowing the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to sit on climate change panels, describing it as “ridiculous” that they would have a seat in discussing the future of their industry. The 20-year-old activist was also detained on Tuesday during a German anti-mining protest and took time this week to speak out against the event that helped make her famous when she spoke at Davos 2019.   

Conservative Viewpoint 

As National Review Online’s Jim Geraghty notes, “I suspect that among many conservatives, the reflexive response to the Davos conference is disdain … it’s that so many Davos attendees arrive with an ambitious plan to save the world, and that plan to save the world usually involves making the rest of us change to fit their visions.”

DailyWire writer Tim Meads dismisses the WEF as “totalitarian freaks,” saying that “The WEF isn’t really the main source of collectivist plans for global unity, it just serves as a convenient meeting place to gather thoughts. It’s one giant party, replete with champagne, flashy clothes, and ladies of the night.” 

Conspiratorial Viewpoint 

CNN’s Oliver Darcy notes that the WEF and Davos have become lightning rods for paranoid conservative conspiracy theories spread by political commentators like Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, and Glenn Beck—claiming that “globalists” are using these organizations to spread “sinister schemes.”  

“In particular, [the ADL warns against] ‘‘The Great Reset’ conspiracy theories, noting that the term has ‘largely been divorced’ at this point from its 2020 Covid origins and become ‘a broad brand for conspiracies’ about how global elites are plotting to use the masses for their own benefits.” 

Some conservative activists have downplayed concerns about the WEF for this reason. Conservative activist Christopher Rufo says, “Unpopular opinion: the obsession with Klaus Schwab, Davos, and the WEF is misguided, as they have little real power over life in America. It’s also enervating, as it shifts the locus of control to far-away figures, while constructive action can be taken at home.” 

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk dismissed Davos as “ominous,” Tweeting that “How is WEF/Davos even a thing? Are they trying to be the boss of Earth!?” He also agreed with Rufo though, saying, “We shouldn’t be obsessed with WEF/Davos, but they take themselves so seriously that making fun of them is awesome.” 

Home / News / The Cost And Critics Of Davos 
Share
FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn

Related Stories

Regulators Struggle To Understand A.I. 

by Tyler Hummel Leaders Staff
Public Policy

6 hours ago

EU

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) has meant that world governments are struggling to understand the implications of AI as a disruption tool and thus aren’t able to meet the needs of writing regulations for it. 

Key Details

  • The White House released a blueprint in October to address many of the core economic and legal concerns with new technologies, such as algorithmic racial bias, data harvesting, and automation. 
  • The European Union proposed its Artificial Intelligence Act in 2021, litigating uses for AI that it deems high-risk and low-risk, but it hasn’t passed. 
  • Both major proposals were written before ChatGPT was released on November 30, 2022, which sparked four months of rapid innovation and demand for AI applications. 
  • The Chinese government has similarly stated its intention to limit AI, announcing on February 24 that the Ministry of Science and Technology will be monitoring the safety and uses of the technology. 
  • Smaller agencies like the New York City Department of Education and various financial institutions have limited uses of chatbots in specific applications. Still, national-level solutions have been limited, Bloomberg notes.

Go deeper

FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn

Meta Shelves the Metaverse … Quietly

by Tyler Hummel Leaders Staff
Tech

15 hours ago

Metaverse

After pouring billions into it, Facebook’s delve into virtual reality appears to be a secondary consideration after layoffs and poor sales. 

Key Details

  • Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook parent company Meta Platforms appear to be shying away from metaverse, maintaining that the service has a future but quietly shifting the core focus of the company toward artificial intelligence (AI).  
  • On Tuesday, the company announced another round of mass layoffs, with 10,000 more Meta employees losing their jobs. 
  • On March 3, Meta cut the prices of its flagship Meta Quest Pro products by 33%. 
  • A report from The Verge that same day found metaverse users in the Horizon World’s virtual space only retained 10% of users as regular users. 
  • The metaverse has consistently lost money for the company, including $13.7 billion in 2022, causing investor pushback in an October 2022 investor call.

Go deeper

FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn

A Bailout Eclipsing That Of 2008 

by Tyler Hummel Leaders Staff
Markets

Mar 18, 2023

FR

The Federal Reserve has handed out hundreds of billions of dollars in the past week to avoid a banking crisis—one that President Joe Biden is eager to prevent from happening again. 

Key Details

  • According to the Federal Reserve’s Thursday report, the central bank lent $297 billion in emergency funds from Friday to Wednesday, in addition to $153 billion in lending against their collateral using “discount windows.” 
  • The spike in loans marked the highest number of requests the Fed has received in decades, eclipsing the 2008 financial crisis’s $111 billion discount window and the COVID pandemic’s $51 billion, Axios reports.    
  • In response to the ongoing turmoil, President Biden called for Congress on Friday to tighten banking regulations and impose penalties on banks “whose mismanagement contributed to their institutions failing.”

Go deeper

FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn
Apple is limiting hiring and pausing bonuses for workers company-wide in an effort to reduce costs.
Business

Mar 18, 2023

Apple Cuts Back In Its Own Way

by Savannah Young Leaders Staff
Twitter is shifting its ad strategy—bringing in more lesser-known brands seeking clicks rather than more prominent brands seeking exposure
Business

Mar 17, 2023

Twitter’s Shift In Ad Strategy

by Savannah Young Leaders Staff
Social Issues

Mar 17, 2023

Political Pressures On College Campus 

by Tyler Hummel Leaders Staff

Recent Articles

Productivity

Mar 17, 2023

Unlocking Your Inner Drive: How to Motivate Yourself

Make real progress by trying out these techniques for boosting your self-motivation.

Wealth

Mar 15, 2023

Secure Your Family’s Future With Generational Wealth

Find out how to set your family up for a bright future with generational wealth.

Business

Mar 13, 2023

Which of the 16 Work Personality Types Are You?

Work personality types refer to how individuals approach and engage with work tasks, coworkers, and their environments.

  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Wealth
Join the Leaders Community

Get exclusive tools and resources you need to grow as a leader and scale a purpose-driven business.

Subscribing indicates your consent to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy

Leaders.com
  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Careers
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
  • Disclosures
  • Editorial Policy
  • Member Login

© 2023 Leaders.com - All rights reserved.

Search Leaders.com