They offer conjecture, and a kind of mental map to help readers navigate the uncertain journey ahead. Schwab and Malleret admit there is no way of knowing, at this early stage, how things will pan out. But the analysis that follows is erudite, thought-provoking and plausible. So far, so Davos: the World Economic Forum is never short on lofty, worthy big-picture rhetoric. The fault lines of the world – most notably social divides, lack of fairness, absence of co-operation, failure of global governance and leadership – now lie exposed as never before, and people feel a time of reinvention has come." "Deep, existential crises also favour introspection and can harbour the potential for transformation. The world as we knew it in the early months of 2020 is no more," he writes.īut while "for many, life as they've always known it is unravelling at alarming speed", there is opportunity in all this misery and disruption. "Many of us are pondering when things will return to normal. It is an early stab at assessing the potential consequences of the pandemic and it is part forecast, part manifesto, and part warning.īrace yourselves: Schwab doesn't mince words at the outset. Schwab hopes to make amends for that rare and understandable failing of his signature gathering with a new book, co-authored with French analyst Thierry Malleret and published last week, called The Great Reset. The general tone on the Swiss slopes was cautiously optimistic nobody saw fit to mention, or had even really heard about, a recently identified virus that was filling hospitals in distant Wuhan. APĮxcept this year, of course, it didn't. When will things return to normal? Never, according to Davos founder Klaus Schwab. He is the octogenarian German engineer and economist who parlayed his dull-sounding 1971 management manual into a think tank, the World Economic Forum, that in turn became Davos – the star-studded gathering of the global political and corporate elite each January, which almost unfailingly nails the politico-economic zeitgeist of the year ahead. We are paddling into a fog of uncertainty, and we need a navigator. As the COVID-19 pandemic's second wave breaks upon us, all thoughts of an easy ride out are dissipating.
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