Marketplace:
5 things you need to know about the World Economic Forum
19 January 2017
Next week, government and business leaders from around the world will meet in Davos, Switzerland for the 2018 World Economic Forum to discuss this years's theme: "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World." So what exactly goes on at these gatherings? Davos vet and MIT economics professor John Van Reenen spoke with Marketplace Weekend about the five things everyone should know about the World Economic Forum. 1. People are very earnest about the forum. Even though there's an impression of the WEF as an elite meeting of businesspeople and politicians, Van Reenen says that people who attend are very mindful about wanting to genuinely do good and address the economic problems and global issues of the day. Talking economics on a Swiss mountaintop may seem a bit chilly (literally and figuratively), but Van Reenen says he's always struck by everyone's earnestness.