No answers from Davos

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland over five days last week, has ended with a call to rebuild the global economic system, but few ideas about how to do it.   The WEF is a Swiss-based non-profit foundation which holds an annual meeting in Davos to bring together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world.   Over 2,000 business and political leaders attended this yearÔÇÖs meeting to discuss what some are calling the "crisis of capitalism," but reports suggest that although most participants agreed what the problems were, solutions were few and far between.   Everyone recognized that the global economy is heading into a deep and long recession, but as for turning the corner this year or even early in 2010, one top money manager commented: ÔÇ£We don't even know where the corner is."   Another unnamed participant is reported to have summed up the discussion thus: "we don't know what to do, only that we need to do something and we need to do it fast."   There was at least some agreement on what not to do, with a general consensus that protectionism through raising trade barriers would have a devastating impact on the economies of rich and poor countries alike.   In a forum of the most devoted capitalists, everyone agreed that while capitalism needed fixing, it was not irreparably broken, bringing to mind the famous quotation from Sir Winston Churchill: "Capitalism is the worst economic system, except for all the others."     *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *