If the world's leaders had hoped for a week of relaxed discussions in the Swiss mountains, then the participants of this year's World Economic Forum in Davos got a nasty reality check.
The agenda was already reflecting the worries about the global economy. When the bosses and bankers, the investors and politicians arrived, the stockmarket turmoil and the $7bn bank fraud in Paris added extra urgency to their discussions.
All sessions on the state of the global economy were packed. All agreed that the United States was facing a nasty downturn, many spoke of a recession, and everybody wondered what that would mean for the rest of the world.
This was truly a World Economic Forum, and 'back to business' was the order of the day. After three years when the event was somewhat overshadowed by the Hollywood glitz of celebrity participants like Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone and Angelina Jolie, this was a more sober affair.
Unlike previous years, no big news stories emerged from Davos.
Even the dozens of parties and dinners thrown every evening by the world's largest companies showed "less corporate excess," said Easygroup boss Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7212172.stm
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