World Economic Forum: AM23 Daily Evening Briefing- Day 1

Highlights from Day 1:

Chief economists: Prospects for growth are bleak. The World Economic Forum’s Chief Economist Outlook, which was released today, painted a significantly gloomier outlook for 2023 than most economists thought just three months ago.

• Almost two-thirds of the Forum’s community of Chief Economists forecast a global recession in 2023, more than double who thought the same in September.

• Businesses are expected to cut costs significantly, with 78% of economists in the survey forecasting layoffs at large multinationals firms.

• The inflation outlook will be a mixed bag globally, with more than half of economists predicting rising prices to be a persistent problem for Europe throughout 2023, but only a quarter of economists think inflation will remain an issue in the U.S.

• Join us tomorrow at 13:15 in the Press Conference Room, Media Village, for a briefing on the outlook with top economists Gilles Moëc, Raghuram Rajan, Nela Richardson and Saadia Zahidi.

Crystal Awards: Acclaimed architect-artist-environmentalist Maya Lin, legendary soprano and neuroscience-research enthusiast Renée Fleming and actors and humanitarians Idris and Sabrina Dhowre Elba received the 2023 Crystal Award for their work as cultural leaders who bridge disciplines and bring much needed attention to urgent social issues. Meet them here, and watch the event here.

Seen/heard around and about Davos:

“The world is becoming more interdependent, but on the other hand, we will have relations much more on the basis of trust. The future of the world could be a kind of patchwork of coalitions which are trust-based.”

–Klaus Schwab, in A Q&A with Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum (Wall Street Journal)

“There are no solutions to the world’s largest problems that don’t involve the leaders of the world’s largest companies and national and international policy makers.”

– Why Davos Matters More Than Ever (McKinsey)

Other things worthy of a click:

• The Open Forum kicks off with a discussion on how to motivate climate positive behaviour, featuring speakers including Brazilian minister Marina Silva and Emily Rhinow, a Swiss scout.

• Meet the YouTube creators covering Davos 2023.

• Red Sea corals set to the music of singer, songwriter, composer and activist Noa, also known as Achinoam Nini.

Davos in the news:

• DW: The young global leaders, one as young as six, who have come to Davos to make their voices heard

• Guardian: Davos elite will need to do some soul searching in a world falling apart

• The New York Times: Davos confronts a new world order

Did you know:

• Meeting hashtag #WEF23

• The website: wef.ch/wef23

• Need an interview or exclusive comments? interviews@weforum.org. A list of spokespeople for the Annual Meeting is available here.

Helpful links:

• All documents are accessible on the TopLink app with the passcode Media2023

• The official programme, press conference schedule and list of public figures and the list of participants are now available.

• For all logistical and practical information, please read the media guidelines.

• Links to live streamed sessions will be available here.

• The World Economic Forum on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.