I’m not sure what was more surreal last month – hearing that Donald Trump was about to go to Davos to tell everyone how great America is as an investment or watching his chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, deliver the news on TV.
Cohn seemed convinced in his own message, although it was interesting to see his old firm, Goldman Sachs, suggest that emerging markets offer a better opportunity than the US this year. Yes, that’s right – some of those ‘shithole’ countries may outpace America’s growth.
Other national leaders, however, had different messages for the World Economic Forum.
Justin Trudeau, prime mister of Canada, for example, urged corporates to tackle gender inequality. The UK’s PM Theresa May talked about the responsibility of technology firms to protect internet users. President of France Emmanuel Macron talked about the need for “moral ways to make profits” and taxation justice. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, talked about fighting climate change together. China’s president Xi Jinping talked about working together as a community.
In a nutshell, they all talked about a fairer society – a topic the US might feel it needs to address.
