David's Digest

Time was when I might have opened a comment on the annual Economic Forum with the words "The great and the good are heading for their annual economic shindig in Davos this week.....But given the world financial crisis brought about, or at the very least, allowed to happen, by those who will attend the event it might be more appropriate to say something like "This week, as the worlds guilty parties gather at Davos, the cold wind of world recession is cooler than the snowy mountains around the ski resort.....

 For the 2,500 strong guest list will include the chairmen of several prominent but now virtually insolvent UK and other countries banks (presumably paying their delegate and hotel fees out of bail-outs provided by taxpayers); some of the worlds top economists who advise banks and politicians on the policies they should follow; and heads of government from around the world.

Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of Russia will, for instance, give the keynote address (presumably it will include information on how to exploit your customers when you are sitting on the worlds biggest supply of natural gas); and Gordon Brown, our own Prime Minister will, I imagine, try explain to delegates how to banish boom and bust. I doubt if he will have a very big audience.

In more prosperous times the Davos gathering has been an excuse for a few days skiing at public expense and lots of partying. This year, we can only hope, the leisure activities will be kept to a minimum and serious discussion about what went wrong and what to do next should dominate procedings. If not we have the right to ask the reasons why.

Last time I was in Davos (many years ago and at my own expense) I skied the famous Kublis run - at the time the longest downhill piste in Europe. For the first few miles the skiing was easy with lots of snow and relatively gentle slopes. But the nearer we got to the village the steeper and more difficult the terrain we had to negotiate. Furthermore the snow that was there had turned to ice and there were rocks everywhere to snag your ski's and trip you over. It was almost impossible to get a grip. By the time we reached the bottom we were out of control and relying on pure luck to stay on our feet.

It stikes me that world finances have travelled a similar journey over recent months and we are still on the icy bit. I hope Davos gets some metaphorical fresh snow this week to enable the guilty parties to begin to recover their (and our) balance.