Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer described the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. A portion of the meeting involves:
“For a bunch of people, it’s just five days of making as much money as they can because they’re masters of the universe and they’re seeing other masters of the universe and they’re meeting every 30 minutes and getting deals done."
The annual meeting of global tamperers has long been dominated by Masters of the PEUniverse. Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein is there once again. He's focused on:
...issues that I think are most important are: Number one - trying to resolve Russia and Ukraine; Number two - trying to get the global economy in reasonable shape, because it does teeter on possibly a recession if we don't solve this problem. Number three is the global problem of climate change, which we can't forget. Number four is the US/China and the European/China relationship, making certain that it's going to be something that's acceptable to everybody. And last I'd say is the income inequality that has increased as a result of COVID. COVID is still with us. And a large percentage of people in the world have not been vaccinated yet.
Income equality increased as private equity underwriters (PEU) added to their absurd fortunes while stiffing workers at affiliate companies. Davos cited the problem of income inequality nine years ago and it has only gotten worse.
That's odd for an annual gathering that purports to change the world for the better. David Rubenstein said of this year's meeting:
And I hope we don't lose sight of two other global issues. One is climate change and the other is the growing income inequality that exists in many countries between those who are wealthy and those who really are left behind.
...that's what Davos is about, which is, letting people know your views, coming together and working together in a peaceful way to get a problem solved in the world. And the World Economic Forum deserves its credit for doing this for more than 50 years.
Do you believe this Master of the PEUniverse?
Update 5-22-22: Patriotic millionaires are protesting at Davos, demanding the rich pay more in taxes.
“You don’t win people’s trust by holding events like Davos, where the world’s rich and powerful meet behind layers of security. The most significant thing Davos participants could do to actually win people’s trust is to acknowledge that the wealth and privilege they represent and protect, is incompatible with a world where everyone can live full and prosperous lives.”
Update 5-23-22: At Davos David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group said "the main attraction of cryptocurrency is tax avoidance, and 'tax avoidance is one of the main motives in human life'." He also flipped his former position that a recession was not in the cards. If one occurs he expects it to be mild. Rubenstein and fellow PEU Al Gore are "A-Listers" of the greed and leverage boy kind.
Update 6-8-22: While in Davos Rubenstein said companies with fallen stock prices are on sale and urged investors to buy. He didn't talk about private company markdowns or how private equity underwriters are not keen on sharing annual audits or quarterly financials with public pension funds. CEO Kewsong Lee said Carlyle is investing in tech that "drives margin and increases productivity," i.e., more workplace trauma.
Update 6-21-22: “Sam Bankman-Fried is the new John Pierpont Morgan -- he is bailing out cryptocurrency markets the way the original J.P. Morgan did after the crisis of 1907,” Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, said in an interview, referring to that year’s banking panic, which led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
Update 7-4-22: The next great gathering of fortunes is the "billionaire summer camp" in Sun Valley, Idaho put on by investment bank Allen and Co.
Update 7-13-22: As for great crimes creating great wealth see here.
Update 7-12-23: Billionaires on private jets are circling Sun Valley for the annual Allen and Co. summer-fest. It's Davos without the chill.
