The WEF really only lasts about three-and-half days, but the press start prepping for it months in advance. The result is a barrage of first-day and lead-up stories that cover the same ground every year, written as if it is indeed news.
Here's the Cliff's Notes version to save you time reading those:
- Davos is cold and it snows.
- Security is tight.
- Rich people go there.
- There are parties.
- Some major philosophy is on the brink of collapse. (Last year it was the entire Western hemisphere. Now it's just capitalism.)
- CEOs aren't that great with technology.
Now we can move on to what hasn't changed from last year:
- The State of the Union wasn't the talk of the town and got mixed reviews.
- Greece is still bankrupt.
- The UK is about to double dip.
- The eurozone isn't so healthy.
- Bankers like money.
And finally, there's something new worth discussing. UK Prime Minister David Cameron and staff are in major damage control mode. It's not because the UK economy is contracting again, even without any major drag from a struggling eurozone. Last year the same thing happened and the government managed to blame snow in London and keep reiterating that explanation with a straight face.
Cameron's got tea party trouble, but not a breakaway faction of the Tories. He just lost his biggest celebrity photo op after Mick Jagger decided he's not going to head up from Zurich to promote Britain and the Olympics.
Sir Mick doesn't want to be used as a "political football," which is presumably a soccer ball that votes.
It was kind of a long shot in the first place, as most rock stars are going to avoid being allied to a Conservative government. But maybe he can get Ted Nugent at the last minute.
