Thought-leaders on the magic mountain

The Swiss town of Davos. Photo / Wikipedia Commons, posted by user Flyout

Just as New Zealand investors are now officially feeling upbeat and the kids discover a touching faith in KiwiSaver , over at the Swiss ski resort of Davos 2,500 world 'leaders' are also getting geed-up about the economy.

According to this Bloomberg report, over 80 per cent of some 1,198 global big-wig CEOs were increasingly confident that a real economic recovery is underway.

The survey, produced for the annual gathering of the great and good at the World Economic Forum in Davos by PricewaterhouseCoopers, found that 31 per cent of these CEOs were "very positive", up 10 per cent from last year, while only a paltry 18 per cent remained gloomy, half the 2009 figure.

Dennis M Nally, global chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, was quoted as saying: "CEOs must now shift their mindset to making strategic decisions about investing in growth in order to gain competitive advantage."

Nally is speaking in his native corporate tongue here but in English this translates as 'business as usual'.

It might seem hard to believe these words just one year after what influential academic, Kenneth Rogoff, described as the "grimmest Davos" of all time.

But as they crawl out of the pit of doom, global thought-leaders are also doing some scenario-testing about where the next unexpected economic disaster will emerge from.

In his blog on the UK Daily Telegraph, Jeremy Warner, points out that the WEF crowd have a pretty poor record in making such predictions.

"When the next crisis comes, ten to one on everyone will be looking in the other direction again," Warner writes.

Meanwhile, in Davos, which is where Robert Louis Stevenson allegedly wrapped up 'Treasure Island' and Thomas Mann, more appropriately was inspired to write 'The Magic Mountain', the thought-leaders will be avoiding each other on the "most remarkable skiing" slopes in Switzerland. It's all downhill from there.

David Chaplin