This year’s meeting of the World Economic Forum, which begins today, will be the first “normal” Davos for five years. Ever since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, in September 2008, a sense of crisis has hovered over the annual event.
The nature of the fears bothering Davos man – and woman – changed slightly from year to year as worries about the collapse of the global financial system gave way to a fear of another Great Depression, and then to more specific concerns about the collapse of the eurozone.
This year, however, the clouds have thinned, the terrors have lifted – and genuine optimism has returned. The threat of financial collapse now seems reassuringly remote. The US economy is strengthening and could grow 3 per cent this year. A strong rebound is also under way in the UK. And both the eurozone and Japan will also grow this year, albeit at slower rates.