Daily Davos: the world economy, #ShapingDavos

Here is your daily digest of news from, and about, the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2015.

On the Agenda

The state of the world economy ahead of Davos. It “is gradually and slowly moving away from the Great Recession and the crises in Europe. The United States is taking the lead,” says Anders Borg.

40 cities from around the world virtually connect to Davos. Watch it all live here and join the conversation at #ShapingDavos.

How can we switch off lighting poverty? “We still live in a world where 1.3 billion people lack access to electric light.”

An idea for the future of democracy. Technology is moving very quickly and democracy is moving very slowly; that is why we need to rethink structures.

Why we need new allies for gender equality. “Behaviour change is a massive undertaking; confronting unconscious bias and stereotyping is one way to start the process.”

LGBT at work: time to smash the lavender ceiling. 5 things global organizations can do to further their LGBT inclusion strategies.

4 things leaders need to know about mental health. “The global economic costs of mental illness over the next two decades will be more than the costs of cancer, diabetes, and respiratory ailments put together.”

The World Economic Forum in the news

Big business will undoubtedly be the subject of much soul-searching at Davos 2015. “Loss of public trust in established forms of business has got a great deal worse since the onset of the financial crisis. Is there a solution?” (Telegraph)

High up in the mountains world economic leaders search for new ideas. “Big business, the fund allocators, the administrators and the politicians go toe-to-toe with members of civil society, upstart young global leaders.” (The Australian)

Davos Stars: Winnie Byanyima – Activist for drastic change. “I will be looking to business and political leaders to join me in a conversation to find a way forward for the greater good.” (BizNews)

Thinking of our fragile world is good business practice, says Davos co-chair. “Katherine Garrett-Cox of Alliance Trust…says leadership and sustainability top her agenda.” (Guardian) And 7 themes that will dominate the meeting. (Guardian)

Davos Women Remain Minority as Youth Gender Gap Closes “54 percent of the forum’s Global Shapers community of 50 leaders will be female.” (BusinessWeek)

India likely to have strong presence at WEF’s Davos meet. “Hari S Bhartia is among the six co-chairs.” (NDTV Profit)

On our radar

The psychology of intelligence analysis. “The best forecasters…were better at inductive reasoning, pattern detection, cognitive flexibility, and open-mindedness…they viewed forecasting as a skill that required deliberate practice, sustained effort, and constant monitoring of current affairs.”

High levels of inequality are bad for the rich. “And not just because inequality offends norms of fairness…inequality is also extremely wasteful.”

A Socratic dialogue on the Swiss Franc. Berkeley’s Brad DeLong proves to be the John Oliver of the economics professoriat.

Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. “We hypothesize that, across the academic spectrum, women are underrepresented in fields whose practitioners believe that raw, innate talent is the main requirement for success, because women are stereotyped as not possessing such talent.”

The productivity puzzle. “The gap between ‘real living standards’ and ‘recorded living standards’ is growing simply because so much more of the value of the new technologies is not in fact monetised.”

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Author: Adrian Monck is Managing Director and head of Public Engagement at the World Economic Forum.

Image: The interior of the Davos Congress Centre is seen in this World Economic Forum image.