By Kitty Testa
What is Davos?
Fifty weeks out of the year Davos is a ski resort town in Switzerland with a population of just over 11,000, but for several days every year it is the center of economic globalism when it hosts the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting. When you see a headline about Davos, they’re probably referring to the latter.
Each year, financiers, high-ranking elected officials, economists, and the heads of global institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund gather in Davos to discuss the world’s economy and to promote policies to make it the way they want it to be.
In some ways it’s a networking event for the rich and powerful. It is a place to see others and be seen, an entrée into the chambers of power. The forum also is known for big business drama, such as who is in attendance and who’s making deals with whom. But its mission is to shape global policy. Its attendees are influential—very influential on economic policies in nearly all countries in the world.
The WEF may, in fact, illustrate everything wrong with the modern approach to globalism, an approach that makes globalism repulsive to many, and has helped give rise to the nationalism and populism that is growing around the globe.
So here’s what you need to know about Davos 2017:
