Davos and The 3% Solution

Life in Davos at the World Economic Forum last week just isn’t what it was in the days of zero real interest rates, booming share prices, handsome executive bonuses, and a settled world order. The CEOs in attendance, some coming fresh from the financial and property/finance sector firing lines – jobs, not bullets – expect a recession, albeit one that is neither deep nor prolonged. They also fear a “polycrisis” – a hydra-headed mixture of woes ranging from Ukraine, to Taiwan, to whatever particular nightmare awaits when corporate head meets pillow. Nevertheless, most observers report that the gloom-bordering-on-panic of last year was replaced with a sort of cautious optimism that they could manage their way through the current difficulties. With reason.