Davos 2006 is surprisingly upbeat -- with much talk of the success of China and India. These are seen as classic cases of the benefits of markets, openness, competition and the entrepreneurship and creativity those business-friendly characteristics can generate. Much less present in the corridors and in sessions is the issue of risks at the global level--whether economic risk for some countries if the commodity boom and low interest rate regime ends--or risks to the global economy (and to the fight against poverty) of a backlash from those who feel left out of the process.Public-private partnerships are high on the agenda; public policy and poverty are not. One reflection of this: turnout was surprisingly light for a session on the United Nations that included opening remarks from Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan (See CNN.com) and featured three possible candidates to succeed him (South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, Sri Lankan presidential adviser Jayanthan Dhanapala and Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga). Also on stage were Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico and head of Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and Rajat Gupta, former managing director of McKinsey & Company and Kofi Annan's special advisor on management reform. And there were two surprise guests: Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency, and Brad Pitt. Both chatted with Annan after his speech and then stayed for the UN panel discussion. Such is the weird mixture of policy and glitz that is Davos!
