There have been dozens of sightings of Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again baseball caps. With one alteration: they are emblazoned with Make the World Great Again. An inauguration day reminder of the gap between Davos Man and The Donald.
Pascal the rascal
Pascal Lamy, former European trade commissioner and ex-WTO head honcho, passed on a theory about Brexit. He told a Clifford Chance breakfast meeting that his son believes recent developments have been the work of a “black cabinet, the purpose of which is to make sure that Brexit doesn’t happen”. Intriguing.
“It’s like during the Second World War,” he explained, when British intelligence tricked the Germans on D Day with an ingenious misinformation campaign. “The first thing you do, you make a fake foreign minister. Boris Johnson. Then you go on messaging that Brexit means Brexit. That’s the intoxication, like what they did with the Germans. Then you choose the worst option, the most costly one, so that at some stage people ask ‘is it worth the price?’ That is the hard Brexit.” Anyone up for a Pascal wager?
All on the same side?
One Texas oilman to another, overheard in the security queue: “Things are looking up! $30 was tough. But, you know, capitalism — it works!” Luckily for global oil markets, the Saudi energy minister was out of earshot.
Wolf in sheepish clothing
Davos veteran Martin Wolf describes his annual appearance chairing the keynote panel on global economic growth as a highlight. But will Davos master of ceremonies Klaus Schwab invite him back after he forgot to switch off his mobile phone, interrupting Christine Lagarde in mid-flow? Next year he could do something on Digital Disruption in a Connected World, or How To Switch Your Phone Off.
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Don’t I know you from somewhere?
In keeping the somewhat subdued tone in Davos, Mark Carney is keeping an unusually low profile. But the word is that he met his doppelganger George Clooney. His spokesman isn’t saying either way. Clooney’s breakthrough film? Out of Sight, of course.
Let’s get this party started
The party scene may be much diminished, but JP Morgan managed to attract Tony Blair, Lord Mandelson, the Glazers and, somewhat predictably, Princess Beatrice. Our mole at Oleg Deripaska’s shindig said the Cristal champagne and chilled vodka flowed until the wee hours, and the dance floor was heaving.