World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

23–26 January 2018 Davos-Klosters, Switzerland

Davos 2018

Last update: 25 Jan 19:07 UTC
07:38 UTC

Welcome to Day 3

So, we've already reached Day 3 of Davos 2018. After Mnuchin, Merkel, Macron and Ma yesterday, today we have May, Malala, Macri and more.

(All times in CET, which is GMT+1.)

07:45 UTC

An Insight, An Idea with Malala Yousafzai

Five years ago, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban in her native Pakistan for defying the ban against women going to school. Since then, she’s become the youngest person to ever be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, written two books and earned a place to study at Oxford University.

And she’s only 20.

She’s in Davos for a one-on-one conversation about her work as an advocate for female equality and education for every girl in the world.

If you don’t know who she is (where have you been the last few years?), then here’s a round-up of some of the highlights of her remarkable life.

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Malala Yousafzai once said feminism was a tricky word, but she's since embraced it. What changed?

It's just another word for equality, Malala says. No-one should object to it, because of course women should have the same rights as men. I was already a feminist, I just began to understand it better, she adds. If you speak about women's rights, then you are already a feminist, whether you embrace the term or not.

The movement is building up and women are rising up all over the world, Malala says. I once told the UN that first we needed men to stick up for us, but we've moved on from that. We are going to do it ourselves.

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Does she have a message for US President Trump, who is due to speak in Davos on Friday?

I just get so disappointed to see that people are in these high positions when they talk about women in unequal terms and do not accept them as equals. It's shocking to think this is happening. I hope that people stand up and speak about it. And that when people are involved in such shameful things they think about their daughters and their mothers. Would they let it happen to them?

I can't change a person, I can only give advice. I want women to stand up and speak out.

Malala is of course juggling her activism with her studies at Oxford. She is sometimes forced to miss days at the college, she says, but she is driven by the question - how many girls could we lose if they don't have proper access to education?

So many girls face this reality, and we must help them.

It is not one person's job to send all girls to school, it would be impossible, says Malala, but she can try and send as many as possible. All sectors must be involved. It's a responsibility for all of us. It can be frustrating, you want to change the world in one day, but you can't.

How does someone as high profile as Malala deal with fame?

She tries to stay normal, she says. I'm a young women, I'm a student, I want to have a normal life with my brothers - which is fighting - and I like to do things like go to the cinema and play mini golf.

She hopes to go back to Pakistan one day and see more of her country. She didn't leave by choice, she adds, circumstances forced her to leave and not seeing her family for five years is not easy.

I have not met a single world leader who would not send their own children to school, she says. But when it comes to the rest of the world's children, they struggle a bit, so we must keep reminding them.

What advice does she have for other students?

Do not feel that you should limit yourself just because you are young. You can bring change at any age, so get involved.

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When she was 11 years old, in January 2009, the Taliban announced that no girl was allowed to go to school. Malala says this was the moment when she realized that education is more about more than reading books and studying, it was about the empowerment of women. The Taliban knew this, they didn't care about the books, they realized that education empowers women. Unfortunately not enough world leaders understand this.

Does she have a role model? It has always been her father, she says. When we talk about feminism in men, he's the example she gives. He challenged society and norms at every stage of his life. He was a feminist that was taking action, and if he hadn't, I wouldn't be here, she adds. Many girls wanted to do what I am doing, but their brothers and their fathers wouldn't let them.

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The education of young boys on the subject of women's rights is crucial, she says at the end of the session. When we talk about feminism and women's rights, we are talking to men. We have to teach young boys how to be men.

07:45 UTC

Secrets to a long and happy life

What if the secrets to a long and happy life are out there, if you just knew where to look?

Well, according to best-selling author and National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner, they are. The world’s happiest places have lessons for all of us, he says.

What's the happiest place in Asia? Singapore. When you look at the data, they report the highest level of life satisfaction, and they have one of the highest life expectancies and GDP. The country is based on a clear set of values - single language, home ownership, ethnic diversity.

Security is more important to our happiness than freedom

Singapore delivers security.

But the happiest cohort of people in the entire world are Danish people over 65.

“All of their needs are covered. Happiness is about getting rid of the concerns like what if I get sick, what happens when I’m old. They’re free to pursue their passions in their work - 80% of Danes are happy in their work. They often work in areas underpinned by ‘flow’.”

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The longest living people in the world are in Costa Rica, in the middle of the country where they place the highest values on family and religion. These people are interacting with each other socially more than 7 to 8 hours a day, not on Facebook, but in the real world, whether walking to church or carrying on everyday life.

About 40% of your happiness is under your control

Image: The Blue Zone

Dan Buettner says you need to ensure you have a 'balanced portfolio' in terms of your daily emotions, purpose and life satisfaction; only 40% of your emotional state is dictated by your genes, and 15% by your circumstances. He urges people to pick a job they love, socialise 7 to 8 hrs a day, be happily in love, own a dog and live in the right place.

If you want to get happier, don’t change your behaviour, change your surroundings

He says that picking the right community is important. Middle sized cities tend to be happier - big enough to allow you to find a good job, a mate and a social life. "The happiest communities in the US are places which are very bikeable, with healthy food environments and where the city governments are focused on quality of life."

You can read more here in this blog he wrote for Agenda last year on living a long and healthy life.

07:53 UTC

A media round-up

An emotional #MeToo moment (Washington Post)

Another tech CEO raises alarm over effects of social media (The Guardian)

Reskilling is top of mind at World Economic Forum in Davos. (Forbes)

Alibaba's Jack Ma says “If trade stops war starts”. (The Street)

More women should be in tech product development, says Sundar Pichai (The Economic Times)

A young Indian entrepreneur does Davos (News18)

07:55 UTC

Enter the Room and experience the brutal impact of war

In conflict zones or in the aftermath of a natural disaster, the ICRC is often the first on the ground to offer much-needed humanitarian aid. Now, the international organization is in Davos to showcase an Augmented Reality (AR) app that gives people a first-hand experience of the brutal impact of what happens when war comes to your city.

AR is a burgeoning Fourth Industrial Revolution technology that employs the camera on smartphone or tablet to overlay virtual images and animation.

In this instance – an experience called “Enter the Room” – the images are of a child’s bedroom, which the user enters via a portal on the handset’s screen.

Image: ICRC

Year-by-year, as the war progresses, the viewer sees and can walk amongst the hidden realities of relentless conflict in the urban environment as the apartment deteriorates. By the end, four years on, the room is battle-scarred from years of warfare and neglect, a shocking reality faced by millions of people around the world.

Image: ICRC

"While the stories of those who fight or flee are more often told, this app explores the experience of the untold millions who stay, and of those left behind," the ICRC said in a statement.

"We believe that getting people to use this app will open up important opportunities for dialogue about some of our core work and values particularly in relation to urban warfare, the everyday services and systems that break down as a result, and the ICRC’s resolute commitment to support the victims of war and conflict no matter the context."

Find out more about "Enter the Room" and why it matters, here.

08:00 UTC

The Outlook for Japan

How much further does Abenomics need to go, what is Society 5.0 and where is this "constitutional change" that is so important to Japan yet so mysterious to those outside the country?

"Japan has really changed under Abenomics," says Takehiko Nakao, President of the Asian Development Bank. Among other developments, the "rate of unemployment has substantially declined."

What is Society 5.0?

Mitsubishi boss Nobuyuki Hirano explains that it's about harnessing Japan's advanced tech capabilities to make life better for a shrinking, ageing population. "Society 5.0 puts more focus on social welfare through industry, deploying all the many Japanese tech inventions to improve quality of life."

Striking gold with Trump

"Of all the leaders Trump likes, Prime Minister Abe might be at the top," says Jane Harman, Director of the Wilson Center. Abe once gave the US president a golden golf club, she quips.

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"Trump doctrine would be that Asia needs to do more for its own defence, and the US will only have bilateral deals that we think are fair."

She adds: "Japan needs to manage its relationship with the US carefully, and it's doing that. That's why Abe is so successful."

On China's dominance

China is Japan's biggest market for exports. But as China grows and its Belt and Road project gets underway, Japan "needs to start seeing China as a bigger friend, otherwise it's putting itself at risk," Harman says.

"We should cooperate with China," agrees ADB's Takehiko Nakao. "There is no other option, at least economically."

Japan's universities

Declining university rankings, number of people studying abroad is decreasing. Heizo Takenaka of Keio University wants to privatize Japanese niversities, just as Harvard and Princeton are private.

The value of value-added

"Japan should be an interesting, vibrant economy," says Takehiko Nakao of ADB. "We should take the dynamism of countries like China and India more seriously. We should be selling good things in a pricey way, branding Japanese products, making money from the Japanese craftsmanship people love."

Japan as trendsetter

"If Japan can overcome its problem of an ageing and shrinking population, we can export our model to the rest of the world. That makes me feel positive about the future," says Kentaro Sonoura, Special Adviser to Shinzo Abe.

You can read more analysis on this theme by Makiko Eda, head of the World Economic Forum's Japan office, here.

Image: The Economist

Participants include:
Jane Harman, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Nobuyuki Hirano, Mitsubishi; Takehiko Nakao, Asian Development Bank; Gideon Rachman, The Financial Times; Kentaro Sonoura, House of Representatives of Japan; Heizo Takenaka, Keio University

08:00 UTC

Live Now: Future Shocks: Rogue Technology

AI-piloted drones could wipe out global fish stocks. What if technology was used to annihilate plants and animals that underpin whole ecosystems and our global food security?

In a session developed in partnership with Wired, we imagine the unintended consequences of our age of scientific miracles. Participants include Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce; Mary Cummins, Engineering Professor at Duke and one of America’s first female fighter pilots; Marcos Souza, Trade Minister of Brazil; Peter Thomson, UN envoy for the oceans; and the neuroscience professor Feng Zhang.

As background, check out the 10 “future shocks” from our Global Risks Report 2018, from the collapse of the internet to the extinction of fish, and our list of the mainstream threats to our world in the next 10 years.

Our host, Nicholas Thompson, Chief Editor at Wired, asks the panel what they are most optimistic about and most concerned about. Marc Benioff gets us underway. What I really want, he says, is for someone to design a beach-cleaning robot that identifies which grains are sand and which are microplastics, removing the plastics. On the other hand, he says, we need to be careful about mega robots that could go undersea and mine the seabed.

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Mary Cummins, who is an expert in drones and autonomous vehicles, says she is more concerned that humans would damage beach-cleaning robots. She also thinks we should be more concerned about the accidental damage autonomous robots could cause in the environment, rather than malevolent damage.

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Neuroscience professor Feng Zhang, says gene-editing technologies could enable us to edit out diseases in fish or other species, but also warns that it is now very easy to change species in ways we might not want. The panel discuss blue strawberries.

Brazil's Trade Minister, Marcos Souza, shares how technology can be used to fight illegal logging, but can also be used by illegal loggers to accelerate their activities. He says the loggers are currently winning.

Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Oceans, says there are 10 rivers in the world that cause 90% of the plastic pollution in the ocean. We could send robots there, he says, to clean those rivers up.

Here's a short video with more info on the ocean plastics problem.

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He says piracy on the high seas will come to an end. There is now a UN oceans conference. And when there is a UN conference, he says, it will produce a law.

Seabed mining is definitely coming, but it's currently not allowed because there is no law allowing it. This is being negotiated now - the bar needs to be set very high, he says.

Benioff says new satellites mean we will soon know where every fishing vessel is in the world. This will help fight illegal fishing.

The conversation shifts to the biome of the ocean - is it worth the risk to start messing with these species? Zhang says organisms are very complicated. It is very easy to cause unintended consequences.

Nick Thompson asks at what point is the damage from climate change so bad, that we just have to take the plunge anyway?

Wow. Cummins says the tech is so new that we don't even know what the problems are going to be. She says with self-driving vehicles we've recently discovered that if a few stickers are placed on parts of a stop sign, the vehicle thinks it is a 45mph speed sign. That doesn't sound good.

We need a global discussion on the ethics of technology, says Peter Thomson.

We go to audience questions. First one is to Benioff about 'Einstein' - an AI powered virtual manager he is using in SalesForce. He says that all managers - of business, of countries, of oceans - want the best information they can get. AI can help provide that information so managers can take the most effective actions.

The panel is asked how to build governance around the development of new technology. Benioff says we need stakeholders from different sectors to work together. That's what Davos is about, he says. Peter Thomson reiterates the priority needs to be the ethics. It needs to be a global approach, because a country-by-country approach could lead to competitive disadvantage based on ethical considerations. Souzza says a regulatory 'sandbox' could help. That is, to trial technology applications and regulations in a country before rolling out globally.

On the controversial topic of geoengineering, Zhang says that if we do it, we need to build it in such a way it is reversible. The complexity of systems is challenging, but AI could help. Benioff counters that we need to be careful - just look at social media, he says. Recently, executives of social media companies admitted they didn't understand the implications of their technologies. Nicholas Thompson says it's a common story for technology companies.

Cummins says part of the problem is insufficient AI talent coming out of universities. Companies are 'running so fast on the AI hampster wheel', she says, that there is no time to provide a rounded education to people being trained with AI skills. We need to rethink education models to fix this.

08:39 UTC

Something to make you smile

It's not all hard talk this week, there's also space for some soft toys.

These cute little dogs were at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2018 Reception.

Image: World Economic Forum / Faruk Pinjo
09:13 UTC

Postcards from Saturn

The woman who sent a spacecraft to Saturn gives us a guided tour of its icy rings and bright moons, explaining the science lessons for life back here on earth.

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09:39 UTC

Even the Prime Minister of Norway has been mansplained to

In an interview at Davos, the politician described an experience early in her career that will make many women wince gently in recognition.

Read the full article
09:40 UTC

Can education save the world? Malala Yousafzai and Justin Trudeau discuss.

"Men have to have the courage to be feminists and the integrity to be allies," says Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in closing remarks.

"Each and every action we take, it matters," concludes Malala Yousafzai.

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The panel discuss the various barriers that hold women back, and how to dismantle them.

"If you have a brain, you have an unconscious bias," says Orit Gadiesh, Chairman of Bain & Company.

Justin Trudeau talks about the importance of going out and actively recruiting women. On the #metoo movement, he says "harassment and assault is unacceptable, we need to be unequivocal."

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Here's a look at what men and women study, taken from our Global Gender Gap report.

Malala talks about an inspiring Syrian refugee girl who wants to be an architect so that she can rebuild her shattered country.

The panel discuss the changing nature of work. Students need flexible tools, says Fabiola Gianotti. A scientist with a background in music and the humanities, she has spoken of the importance of a rounded education.

"We need to break the cultural silos. Too often people put science and the humanities, or science and the arts, in different silos. They are the highest expression of the curiosity and creativity of humanity."

The changing nature of education was a big theme.

"I don’t do a lot of coding as Prime Minister, but understanding how algorithms work, understanding the science is so important," says Justin Trudeau. Education will be crucial for countries to successfully weather the Fourth Industrial Revolution, he says.

Malala Yousafzai talks about the ripple effect of educating girls, which boosts economic growth and cuts poverty.

"Education is the only path I see for empowerment," she says.

Canada will double its yearly contribution to the global partnership for education, Prime Minister Trudeau says. It amounts to 180 million dollars in the years to come.

"Thank you and merci," Malala says in response.

All G7 initiatives need to take a gender lens and consider the impact on women, says Trudeau.

Role models count, says Fabiola Gianotti, a leading particle physicist and the head of CERN.

Reading a biography of Marie Curie inspired her to take up a scientific career, she says.

"When you educate women, the conversation changes.. society itself improves," Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

If there’s anyone who knows about the value of education and empowerment, it’s Malala Yousafzai. Shot by the Taliban at the age of 15 for speaking out about girls’ rights to go to school, she has gone on to campaign around the world for access to education.

In this session, she joins Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; Fabiola Gianotti, the Director-General of CERN; and Orit Gadiesh, chairman of Bain & Company.

Here's Malala discussing what feminism means in an earlier session:

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09:45 UTC

The remaking of global finance

The international finance system is undergoing a fundamental and radical overhaul.

Whether it’s cryptocurrencies or the decline of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, policy-makers and business leaders have got plenty to prepare for.

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF opened with her concerns over international trade.

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The impact of the weak dollar

Steve Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary, reinforced his Davos message on the weaker US dollar. “Where the dollar is now is not a priority - it’s a focus of the free markets.

“In the short term, where the dollar is is not a concern of mine - it will fluctuate. In the short term there are obviously benefits and issues with a lower dollar.”

CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink, added that the US needs to accept that it is a "user of other peoples' balance sheets" to fund its economy where countries such as Japan and Italy domestically fund their deficits.

"In the long run," he said "we are going to have to get our finances in order. If we don’t, that will create a deterioration in the valuation [of the dollar] - that’s not a today issue. That’s an issue we all live with, we all recognise."

US open for business

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the US is focused on economic growth.

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"We couldn’t be happier with the response we are getting from American companies, from international companies, that the US is open for business. We are open for investment and I think, by the way, that 3% growth for the US is good for the world economy so it can be a win win."

3% growth for the US is good for the world economy

Donald Trump pushed the same message earlier today in his pre-Davos tweet.

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Steve Mnuchin reinforced how much President Trump was looking forward to arriving in Davos, along with more than ten US Secretaries of State.

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London's role as a financial centre

On the potential impact of Brexit on the standing of London as a global financial services centre, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, was bullish. He reinforced the importance of the financial services sector to the UK economy - "it will be at the centre of our negotiation strategy."

"The idea that you can re-create in Frankfurt, or Paris, or Madrid, or Amsterdam or Luxembourg, or Dublin, London’s global financial centre I honestly think is a fantasy that isn’t going to happen. The winner will be New York or Singapore if London is damaged by this process and the loser will be, not only the UK , but the European Union."

Image: The Economist

Steve Mnuchin said he respected the UK's Brexit decision.

"I think that the UK can continue to be successful and can continue to trade with the rest of the world. I agree this uncertainty is not great for the financial markets… but we look forward to a very prosperous world economy.”

09:45 UTC

Stepping Up Climate Action

Under current policies, the Earth is expected to warm by 3.2°C - well above the targets set in the Paris Agreement on climate change. The 2018 Global Risks Report identified extreme weather, climate change, and natural disasters among the top risks facing humanity.

2018 is a crucial year for increasing ambition to combat climate change. Businesses and governments must ‘step up’ and increase their climate action. But how?

Participants include: Al Gore, former U.S. Vice-President; Thomas Buberl, CEO, AXA; Jay R. Inslee, Governor of Washington; Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director, Greenpeace International; Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group; Risalat Khan, SIPA Environmental Fellow, Columbia University.

 Embedded in graphic
Image: Climate Action Tracker

Our host, Vikram Chandra, from New Delhi Television Network, gets us underway with a reminder that Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, told the Davos audience that climate change was one of the world's top challenges.

Al Gore says there is a gap between current climate commitments and what we need to do. (See the handy chart above). There needs to be a 'step up' in action. Political will is a renewable resource, he says.

Greenpeace's Jennifer Morgan says 'disruption is the new business as usual'. It's creating opportunities. She cites the 'death' of the internal combustion engine. Also, disruption to our finance system.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, says there is an immense business opportunity. Everything his company has done to tackle climate change has made money, he says.

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Thomas Buberl, CEO of the insurer AXA, says today climate change is a reality for the insurance industry. Looking forward to 2020-2030, a global warming scenario of 3-4 degrees is not insurable anymore. He says AXA will not insure coal anymore. Al Gore also congratulates them for divesting all of their coal investments.

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He says we have a 'sub-prime carbon bubble', similar to the sub-prime mortgage bubble that triggered a financial crisis.

Mahindra makes a big commitment - he says all of the companies in the Mahindra group will commit to the Paris Agreement on climate change. He also says they will commit to using 'science-based targets' to ensure this happens.

Risalat Khan, a young climate campaigner, is pulling no punches. Your generation has failed the next generation, he says. But, leaders have 3 years - between now and 2020 - to fix it.

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Morgan says action needs to be faster and needs to be at scale. For instance, we are losing the war on deforestation, she says.

Gore is passionate now. He riles against 'special interests' that are holding the world back. He says the world as a whole is being forced to subsidize fossil fuels. He says they are 38 times greater than subsidies for renewable energy.

Morgan says Germany has the largest coal fleet in Europe and they must commit to phasing out coal by 2030 and to have a 'just transition' for workers. 'Europe has to get its mojo back', she says. In a triumph of multitasking, she repeats this call to action on twitter.

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Mahindra says there is a benefit to having a purpose-driven corporation. For instance, it helps recruit and retain young talent. He says he's 'not mother Teresa', he's doing this because his people want him too.

Governor Inslee joins the discussion. He responds to Khan's 3 year challenge and says on behalf of 1 billion baby boomers, he will not let that happen (dangerous climate change). I've come to Davos to bring a dose of hope he says.

He says since President Trump announced he would pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, not a single nation, state, or city has followed him. "There's only one man in this parade." He says three republican states have joined their alliance for climate action, which now represents 40% of the United States.

We're not giving up, he says.

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Gore says there is a saying 'when you see a turtle on top of a post, you know it didn't get there by itself'. When you see that the US has higher levels of climate skepticism than anywhere else in the world, you know it didn't happen by accident.

There's a major new participant in this debate - mother nature. People are feeling the effects and are connecting the dots by themselves. Governor Inslee says that in the US 'you cannot overstate how rapidly this is happening'.

'This is not Al Gore's graph anymore. It is ash on the hoods of vehicles in Seattle, which people have never seen before' says Governor Inslee. Even Republicans are starting to vote for climate laws, he says.

Morgan makes a plea to every leader at Davos: connect the dots, she says. Internalise them as a human being. Incremental change will not be enough! To underscore her plea, it goes on twitter too.

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Gore gets passionate again. We have been clearly warned, he says. We can't say to younger generations, 'sorry, we were too busy tweeting or playing games' to deal with climate change.

The panel discusses the role of technology. Mahindra says, it is an enabler. Poets and protestors still change the world.

10:05 UTC

Special Address by Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina

What issues will be top of the agenda when Argentina assumes the G20 presidency in 2018?

The future of work, infrastructure and food security are the key areas Argentina will address, President Mauricio Macri tells Davos.

Argentina has long suffered the consequences of a fractured world, he believes, because the country has been isolated.

The country's primary goal is to reduce poverty, he says.

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Causes for optimism

They're looking towards the future with optimism though - economic growth is strong and investment is increasing. No other country has more potential than Argentina, he believes.

Renewables

The country is investing in renewable energy, including some large scale projects, he explains. Other commodities, including lithium, also offer potential.

Argentina's President Mauricio Macri addresses a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse - RC1D1D9C3E90
Image: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Tourism

Tourism is a massive opportunity, he says - particularly in the northern states.

Breeding unicorns

4 of Latin America's 6 unicorns are from Argentina, offering a unique opportunity for the country to become a hub for knowledge based services.

G20 Leadership

Argentina will bring a voice from the south to its leadership of the G20. It will focus on three areas: the future of work, infrastructure for development, and a sustainable future in terms of food.

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The leadership is one of the biggest challenges in the history of Argentina, he says.

Hopes for the presidency

We're at a special moment in human history, he says. Technology is causing fear. He hopes to reduce this fear.

We must work to increase inclusive growth and train our kids for jobs that don't yet exist. Life-long learning is key to this, as we constantly develop our skills.

We also need to increase food security, by producing more food. There is a major challenge to bring responsible land management techniques to the top of the agenda, and use the soil as a strategic resource.

For more on the G20, take a look at this explainer from our archives.

Ending poverty

We need to be part of the world, he says. Isolation will only entrench poverty.

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He asks to be judged on reducing poverty.

Transparency

Since taking office, the country has seen "incredible improvement in transparency", he says. You have to keep working though.

We're getting "rid of bad habits that don't help to create jobs or reduce poverty," he adds. The reforms they're pushing through are with the support of the opposition - this shows the intent to enact change.

Trade

There's lots of work being done to strength Mercosur. An agreement with the EU would be a good opportunity for both parties, he says.

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11:04 UTC

Socks of Davos

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shows some leadership on the world stage.

11:09 UTC

These are the 5 most important ways Europe must change

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11:27 UTC

Democracy in a Post-Truth Era

It’s little surprise that the term ‘post-truth’ was Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year in 2017. In an era when fake news, digital misinformation and micro-targeting have left many questioning the fundamental tenets of news, political opinion and even democracy, how can the tide be turned and truth be reclaimed?

Discussing these issues are:

Mike Allen, Editor-in-Chief, Axios

Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Federation 2018 and Federal Councillor of Home Affairs, Federal Department of Home Affairs of Switzerland

Patrizia Laeri, Anchor, Swiss Television SRF

Pia Mancini, Chair, The Democracy Earth Foundation

Iqbal Survé, Executive Chairman, Sekunjalo Investment Holdings

Muhamad Iman Usman, Co-Founder, Ruangguru

The session began with a “fake news test” with Laeri asking each participant whether a news story was fake or real. The panel did well, but in a wider survey, respondents were only able to identify half of all stories as being real (rather than fake) news.

Laeri asked Allen if the fake news situation is getting better in the US? His short answer was “no”. He argued that the tech giants are more aware of the fake news, but it doesn’t mean there is less of it. He suggested that the popularity of fake news comes from the fact it hits an emotional chord, which real news often doesn’t.

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Taking up the issue, Berset argued that you can’t control fake news. Instead, he argued that you have to invest in how to interpret it, and give people the resources so they can see the distinction between fake and real news. This requires education.

Fake news has to be seen in the context of the overall ecosystem in which people are operating. It only thrives because of a trust deficit.

Survé argued that fake news will cease to be such a large issue once the ecosystem, and particularly the trust deficit, are addressed.

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Laeri suggested this was too positive, something that Allen supported. He argued that had the cyber interference in the US elections been a direct, physical attack, greater action would have been taken and people would have regarded it as a much bigger problem.

Laeri quoted Jefferson, putting his idea to Mancini. She argued that misinformation is an issue we can address. Instead for her the core problem is populist leaders, who she argued are not emerging a result of fake news, but of failing institutions.

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During questioning, the panel tackled a number of issues from the impact of fake news in US politics to banning fake news, and whether the issue should be taught in schools.

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The panel debated a number of possible solutions to tackling fake news. Among the options were greater education and awareness raising campaigns. Usman stressed the importance of critical thinking, while Mancini argued that citizens need to take greater responsibility and ownership of the issue. The panel also suggested that platform companies will have to start taking more action, most obviously in the form of taking content down from the internet. Mancini argued that business models need to change, arguing that until paying for clicks stops, then it’s difficult to curtail the dissemination of fake news. She also suggested the need for a Wiki-styled fact checking system.

Laeri concluded the session by asking the audience: “Who feels influenced, and who feels powerful?” She was delighted to discover that the majority felt powerful.

11:45 UTC

A new era for global health

The global community is striving to bring quality healthcare to every human on the planet. The question remains as to how new leadership, policy and business models can make this reality.

The last decades have seen significant and widespread progress, but there is still work to be done.

The rise in health funding

Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is confident about changes that have happened in health in the last 20 years, saying: "It’s not easy to get the aid funding we need but overall since 2000 when GAVI was announced, then Global Fund showed up a few years later, aid levels focused on health went up dramatically in that period. In 1960 20% of all children died before the age of 5 - today if you omit the war zones there is nowhere with a 20% mortality rate."

Today the EU and the Gates Foundation announced $50m of investment in healthcare in Africa.

Image: Our World in Data

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Public private partnerships in health

Arif Naqvi, Founder and CEO of The Abraaj Group, spoke of the need for the public sector and private investors to work together. He pointed out that emerging markets are areas with increasing population and urbanisation, but with such growth comes 'shadows' that also need to be tackled. "You need to bring to bear the private sector - they bring with them the ability to innovate and bring about change effectively and at speed."

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He added that a broader range of bodies need to become involved in the challenge of improving health systems. "Healthcare is everybody’s business" he said, "it’s not just the remit of governments, or development agencies, or philanthropic agencies. Everybody’s involved."

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Improving health outcomes

Atul Gawande, Executive Director of Ariadne Labs, spoke of the need for a co-ordinated approach to improve health outcomes. He spoke of one programme in rural India that was launched in order to reduce mortality rates. "The performance when we started measuring was less than 1% for things like handwashing; 30% were not using clean gloves. When we implemented a series of checklists including inventory supply, missing skills training and onside coaching we got them to 70% performance across these measures, across a large scale programme.

"But there was no mortality reduction. The reason is that 70% performance statistic is not enough."

A longer term view

Jayasree Iyer of the Access to Medicine Foundation says there needs to be a long term view when it comes to investing in healthcare solutions as some of the issues will take decades to resolve. In the last five years she has seen a greater interest from investors in healthcare experiments and smaller programs around the world.

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11:45 UTC

New Avenues for Global Trade

World leaders have rushed to the defence of global trade in Davos this week, in a direct counterpoint to what many perceive as the nationalistic policies of President Trump, who arrives at the Annual Meeting today.

Meanwhile, in the background, NAFTA negotiations are underway this week, Mexico and Canada are strengthening ties, and TPP11 and RCEP are inching towards completion.

>> But first, a survey of the room: Is NAFTA dead?
Only a fifth of the room thinks so

NAFTA isn't dead right now, says Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Global Affairs Canada. "But I don't think any of us expect to be finished soon. It's a complicated agreement, which needs to be done carefully and thoughtfully."

Modernize, modernize, modernize

Mexico's Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal says: "We have to find common grounds. NAFTA is 22 years old. We need to modernize it."

On Trump he says: "We understand US position, but we have to find a way to make trade translate into better jobs in North America."

David Abney says NAFTA has been "a win-win-win in all countries". But we need to modernize it, but we certainly don't need to terminate it. We can make it better.

Tak Niinami, CEO of Suntory, agrees the trade deal should be modernized: "We've invested more than 20 billion dollars to North America; we can't leave."

How can we tell if modernizing NAFTA was a success?

There will be a reduction in income disparity, reskilling of our workforce, capacity to maintain benefits for societies, and create new opportunities, says Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal.

What does NAFTA mean for investors?

Møller-Maersk has just invested in a shipping canal in Mexico. Claus Hemmingsen, Vice CEO, says: "For us it's a global game; we're staunch supporters of free trade. It's essential that current talks move forwards. When you make an investment in infrastructure, then you place a certain trust in the regulatory conditions that are present."

How will TPP11 work for Japan?

In 2013, agriculture, livestock industries were against the deal, but the prime minister supported it: we needed to be more competitive, leveraging the TPP. We're so glad the momentum is still alive. It might act as a trigger to push the US admin to change its course and join the CTPPT.

How to make free trade work

1. Support the middle class. Freedland says: Canada believes our path to prosperity is to trade with the world. But you have to first have polices that support the middle class. Only then can trade be made to benefit everyone.

2. In Mexico, we built anti-trust laws, liberalized the energy sector, supported small businesses, says Guajardo Villarreal. We levelled the playing field for everyone; it's domestic policies that have to be improved before global free trade can work.

Globalization has happened before

Freedland invokes history in an impassioned speech: "Up until the start of the first world war, the world had reached a peak of globalization. Then people decided to go protectionist: the results were two world wars, a Great Depression."

"The problems in our middle classes aren't caused by trade: the solution is domestic policy."

"Business leaders have a responsibility to support the middle classes. That means paying taxes."

Wilbur Ross said yesterday: "US doesn't want to be a patsy: we want to have a fair deal." To be good a deal has to be good for all, says Mexico; he's very hands on and detail-oriented and VP Pence was there saying he wanted a win-win-win. For Canada, deficits or surpluses are not a central metric in working out if a trade deal works.

UPS: When you look at goods and services combined: US has a surplus. There is a perception that the US has been at a disadvantage. I think NAFTA has been good for the US. It is possible for the US to feel that they win, while the other countries do too.

What could kill NAFTA?

Freedland says: NAFTA Article 2205 gives all parties the right, after a six-month notice, to withdraw from the deal.

Tak Niinami says political instability could be the end of the deal.

High level of otimism about NAFTA and trade. Good trade agreements provide lots of benefits, but need to be modernized to a 2018 eocnomy. Job losses and the middle classes aren't down to trade: it's down to policies and reskiilling. Companies will need to think about how to frame their activites in a changing regulatory environment.

Among the leaders of business, government and trade exploring this new trade landscape are David Abney, UPS; Stephen J. Adler, Reuters; Chrystia Freeland, Global Affairs Canada; Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Secretariat of the Economy of Mexico; Takeshi Niinami, Suntory Holdings Limited; and Soren Skou, A.P. Møller-Maersk.

11:54 UTC

Malala in Davos: We need to teach boys to be men

The education of young men on the subject of women’s rights is a crucial step to ending gender inequality, Malala Yousafzai said during a session in Davos.

Read the full article
12:44 UTC

Chetna Sinha on our #sharedfutures

All this week participants are answering questions submitted by the public.

Here co-chair Chetna Sinha answers a question from Robert Furlow.

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12:45 UTC

A special address by UK’s Theresa May

Theresa May, the UK’s first female Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher, was previously one of the longest serving home secretaries in British history.

Her time time in office has been dominated by the fallout from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in June 2016, and negotiations with the EU on the exact details of Britain’s divorce from the bloc are still ongoing.

The ultimate effects of the UK’s departure from the EU, which is slated for 2019, are unclear. The two sides have reached first agreements on a financial settlement, but still need to agree on many practical details, and are expected to pursue further talks on trade.

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One year ago, May starts by saying, she stood on this platform and argued that the benefits of free trade were not being felt by all, and failure to address this threatened the system on which global prosperity depends.

But I also argued that we could fix this, she adds, by doubling down on the principles that make globalization work for everyone.

One year on, I see reasons for optimism, May says. Global growth has strengthened, the far-right and far-left have not made the progress some people predicted.

We've also seen important progress on global trade, she adds.

As the UK leaves the EU, it will still be an advocate of global trade, making new bilateral deals with countries across the world, says the British PM.

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Technological progress is fundamental to the advance of humanity. But this progress also raises newfound challenges that we need to address, she says. People will worry that they will miss out on the jobs of the future.

How do we address these concerns?

Business and government working together is crucial, May says. It is free markets that drive innovation, but government can create the conditions that allow business to grow and for people to learn the skills they need to participate in this new economy.

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May argues that the UK has become a centre of AI. There has been a new AI start-up created in the UK every week for the past few years.

Technologies like the internet were developed with a philosophy that connecting us together would improve people’s lives, May says.

And in many ways they have. But so far, that hasn’t been completely true for everyone.

A survey in the UK has found that 7 in 10 people believe social media companies do not do enough to stop illegal or unethical behaviour on their platforms, prevent the sharing of extremist content or do enough to prevent bullying, she adds.

In response to this, the UK is developing a digital charter, she says, at the heart of which is a set of principles:

That the same rights people have offline should be protected online;

That the internet should remain free, open and accessible;

That people should understand the rules that apply to them when they are online;

That personal data should be respected and used appropriately;

That protections should be in place to help keep people safe online, especially children.

And that the social and economic benefits brought by new technologies should be fairly shared.

13:49 UTC

Beyond the Paradise Papers

Companies and wealthy individuals may be hiding as much as $7.6 trillion in offshore companies. As the US cuts corporate tax rates and the EU considers tougher tax measures, what is the best way to put an end to tax avoidance and tax evasion?

So how much progress has there been since the EU published its blacklist?

Promising but needs to work harder

"That's what I'd say if I were a teacher," says Winnie Byanyima. "Tax avoidance isn't just about euros, yens and dollars: it's about human rights. About people who are denied services to help them lift themselves out of poverty because of tax avoidance."

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Stiglitz: Why I resigned from Panama enquiry

The economist and the anti-corruption expert Mark Pleith made headlines earlier this year after walking out of the Panamanian government’s inquiry into the offshore tax evasion scandal.

Stiglitz says now: "The answer we got after weeks and weeks and weeks was, 'No we're not going to be transparent'. So we resigned."

That's when the pair wrote this paper: Overcoming the Shadow Economy.

"The basic system is broken," Stiglitz continues. "The corporations won't allow change - unless citizens really get out there and express their indignation. It's only outrage that will stop the system."

Stiglitz on tax avoidance

"There's a problem of a global tax system that allows people to avoid paying. It's led to a race to the bottom.

"The US just entered the race to the bottom," he adds, "lowering its corporate tax rate."

What's the solution?

"I want Europe to take the lead," continues Stiglitz. "And a global minimum tax imposed by Europe would be the way forward."

He suggests that an effective way to stop a race to the bottom would be if countries listed the total profits of every corporation and asked them to pay 15-20% of their revenues, with countries deciding where those revenues were generated.

Stiglitz says: "Our formula is to look at the total profits, find out where the employees are, the sales, the capital. It's rough justice, but it's better than the no justice we have today."

What did Ireland do?

Stiglitz says: "Ireland sided with Apple, which used the same ingenuity it uses to make the iPhones you love so much, to avoid taxes."

"The first tenet of corporate responsibility is paying your taxes."

Paschal Donohoe, Department of Finance of Ireland, counters "Apple (who aren't here ) state that they have paid all the tax they owed."

Donohoe continues: "It isn't Ireland's role or ability to be a global tax collector. We'll do what we can while maintaining the competitiveness of a very small and open economy."

Winnie and the 'leaky bucket'

Byanyima comes to the defence of Ireland: "Money is flowing out of the productive economy, being stashed in tax havens. It's like water gushing out of a leaky bucket."

The solution? "Global cooperation. And the place to do this is the United Nations, where we can agree a new tax system."

"You need more than transparency, you need rules to govern companies in a culture where 'greed is good'."

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Transparency now

"Country-by-country reporting must be made public," says the EC's Moscovici. "There's no contradiction between competition or investment and transparency - you can have both."

He adds: "Look at where this or that company acts and where it pays taxes. That's the economic approach. "You'l see that there are some countries that are more attractive than others."

Views on privacy

Byanyima: "Companies don't want us to see how wealth is created. It's not the same argument as individual privacy."

Serra: "They’re now sucking data out of each of us and no one is getting paid. As a citizen, we must rise … We must say: you, government, protect the privacy of my data."

Image: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

This discussion includes:

- Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International
- Paschal Donohoe, Department of Finance of Ireland
- Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
- Davide Serra, Founder and CEO, Algebris Investments
- Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel-winning economist, Columbia University

13:58 UTC

Malala Yousafzai says women should never listen to anyone who tells them how to dress

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14:42 UTC

Theresa May's Davos address in full 

British Prime Minister Theresa May address to the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2018.

Read the full article
15:15 UTC

Live now: Big tech, big impact

Closing comments focus on a need for optimism about the future.

"With new technology, humanity can run the world without consuming the earth," says Ulrich Spiesshofer.

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Ursula Burns make a strong call for leaders to do a better job by girls and women.

Men who are leading have to take a measured, purposeful approach to breaking this problem

"It is amazing how well we are doing as humans at victimising and excluding 50.4% of the population," she said. "Men who are leading have to take a measured, purposeful approach to breaking this problem."

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AI has been a hot topic at Davos this week.

"There is a lot of hype and bubble, but AI is real and transformative, it’s not the future, it’s now," says says Ya-Qin Zhang, President of Baidu Inc.

AI will displace jobs rather than destroying them, he says. It will create more "honourable" jobs, he predicts.

But the panel are worried about the immediate impact on people's lives.

"A democracy needs to be more than two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat," says Dan Schulman, CEO of Paypal.

The panel is talking about how to protect people from the wave of disruptive change ahead.

Ursula Burns, chairman of Veon, plays down the rhetoric of China versus the United States.

"This idea that China is better than the US, or that someone’s going out of the window, I’d throw that out of the window. There are lots of different models. I’m hoping that China is very successful and I hope that we are too," she says.

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Earlier questions focused on the different business environments in the two major powers.

China has a “structural advantage” in technology, says Ya-Qin Zhang, President of Baidu Inc.

When pushed on whether China is benefiting from soft regulation, he says that there is a growing awareness of privacy as an issue. He cites a backlash against a Chinese company that was livecasting video of people shopping or at the gym.

For the first time in history, all the biggest companies are technology companies, he says.

The panel agree we are on the cusp of huge change.

"This is the first revolution that leaves the factory door and goes into every single job," says Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO of ABB.

Automation often means job cuts. The panel talk about the tough reality of figuring out what to do with the people who lose their vocations.

Populism is self defense in difficult times, says Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone. He says there is a "huge opportunity" in the next 10 or 15 years for technology to make people's lives better, but we need new forms of collaboration to make it happen.

In the past two decades, digital technologies have disrupted industries, created entirely new economies and transformed the way we work and live. Twenty years from now, will technology be seen as the great displacer or democratizer of benefits?

Image: McKinsey&Co

This session was developed in partnership with the Wall Street Journal. Joining Matthew Murray, Executive Editor at The Wall Street Journal will be Dan Schulman, President and Chief Executive Officer, PayPal; Ursula Burns, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at VEON; Ya-Qin Zhang, President, Baidu Inc., Ulrich Spiesshofer, Chief Executive Officer, ABB Ltd and Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Group Plc

15:15 UTC

Left Behind in the United States

The session has an unusual start, with a series of cartoons:

They're the work of Patrick Chappatte, an Editorial Cartoonist at Globe Cartoon.

Where do we stand?

There's a clear sense of pessimism in the audience. When asked, the vast majority think the future is going to be worse for future generations. This ties into the results of a Pew study from the summer.

Image: Pew Research Center

A broken American Dream?

Arlie Russell Hochschild explores the red state paradox. The states with the poorest healthcare, fewest museums, receive the most money from the state. But, also distrust the government the most.

Congressman Mark Meadows says that everyone just wants to live the American Dream, but we're putting people in a box. Providing for your children or grandchildren is most people's aim, but this comes into conflict with a distrust of the government and of party politics.

You have to meet the fundamental need people have to provide for their family, he concludes.

Mary Kay Henry says the idea that your children should be able to get ahead, and do better than you, is broken. But, she's optimistic that things can be improved and ensure that everybody can be included.

Mike McGavick does think that things will be better for future generations, though. But agrees, and can understand, why people have lost faith. Declining living standards can be blamed on opioids he says - which people have turned to because of despair.

David J. Skorton is an example of the opportunity for mobility, he explains. But, as it stands, he agrees with the people who don't see a better future. Education needs reform - particularly STEM - in order to ensure people have the opportunities he did. Automation means this is a pressing issue - for example the risk faced by 1.8 million truck drivers.

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So what can we do?

Creativity

Mark Meadows says you have to find out the differences, take people out of boxes, and you'll create opportunities.

Change needed as a nation

Policy and economic structures mean the US can't deal with inequality, argues Mary Kay Henry. Other countries - the Nordics for example - deal with inequality in very different ways. They've taken the decision as nations that childcare should be universal. The structure of the economy means we've excluded people from moving up.

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It can't be that 4 million people want to do a minimum wage job, with no guaranteed hours, she emphasises.

A broken education system

Mike McGavick thinks the panel would agree that the US education system is broken.

Early childhood education is profoundly important, but profoundly underfunded. There's a massive return on investment, and the risk of not giving children the best possible start is enormous. We need to create people who are life long learners, and give them the best possible chance.

Bringing the voice of the people back

David J. Skorton says we need to recreate spaces where people can disagree, and work their way through things. This is an American tradition.

Whether it's a museum or a library, or having dinner with people we don't agree with, people will feel empowered.

Get the line moving and people talking

Arlie Russell Hochschild argues that people haven't moved for too long, and feel stuck where they are - or have even gone backwards. People felt that things are unfair, and that they were forgotten.

People need to be brought together from different sectors of society. High school seniors should spend a month outside their region, she thinks. Students should be trained ahead of time in active listening and civic engagement. They could then work together on public projects.

Bi-partisan action

Responding to a question from the audience, Mark Meadows calls for us to move beyond labels and stereotypes. He says as part of this, bi-partisan legislation is important. It's symbolically significant if the parties are seen to be working together.

15:15 UTC

EU integration: Keeping it together

With the upcoming Brexit and rise of far-right parties across Europe, what does the future hold for a united EU?

Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland, proposes that significant efforts are being made to a single European market that will give a competitive boost to Europe. This includes capital markets. With our strong economic development we can bring positive developments to all of Europe, he says.

Ursula von der Leyen, Germany's Minister of Defense, adds it's important to develop a common political will, one that secures jobs and security and defense. She cites the importance of improving the European defense agency.

Europe is always rebuilding itself, says Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He sees 2018 as a year of further integration in many areas, including fiscal policy, energy and other sectors. "Europe by definition is a multilateral project."

After almost 50 years since France and Germany signed a friendship treaty, Maurice Lévy, Chairman of the Publicis Groupe, believes there is a better balance between the two countries. This gives a better way of steering Europe without one country, namely Germany, dominating.

"The Franco-German friendship is for the sake of all Europe," argues Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy and Finance of France. But to keep Europe unified, all countries need to follow the rules, he adds. Here he was alluding to Poland and the threat of invoking Article 7, which is regarded as a nuclear option in EU affairs.

Article 7 provides the legal mechanism by which the 28-member club can discipline members when there is a risk of a serious breach of the EU’s democratic values. In this case, Poland's legislative assault on the judiciary and free media.

Looking from the outside, Jan-Werner Müller, a professor of politics at Princeton University in the US, reminded people that Europe was not founded for economic reasons but for political ones, and today two members are violating the principles -- Poland but also Hungary.

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On immigration, the German minister says it was not a mistake to let in 1 million refugees, but they need to enter the legal way. When the crisis hit, we had to fix, and still fixing, the deficits in the system, she says. But what remains at stake is respecting the law with human dignity.

When asked to give one piece of advice for Europe to succeed in the future, Gurria says it is keeping up with reforms, changes and integration.

15:20 UTC

President Trump arrives in Davos

US President Donald Trump gave an insight into the message he's bringing to Davos in a Tweet last night. He has now arrived and will deliver a special address tomorrow.

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His address is at 14:00 (13:00 GMT) on Friday. You'll be able to follow it here on the liveblog, in the live player above, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on YouTube (so there's no excuse for missing it).

Following his arrival, he held talks with British PM Theresa May and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 25, 2018 REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC18B16D8410
Image: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

His visit has generated intense media interest:

Donald Trump in Davos for World Economic Forum (CBS News)

Trump arrives in Davos 'to tell world how great America is' (Deutsche Welle)

Trump to Tell Davos That ‘America First’ Is Good for Globalism (Bloomberg)

15:55 UTC

Google’s CEO says AI will be more important than electricity or fire

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16:45 UTC

Press Conference with Pakistani Prime Minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, will share his views on migration, terrorism, the global economy, energy and Pakistan’s role in China’s Belt and Road initiative.

He's joined by several ministers.

The Prime Minister believes Pakistan is on the cusp of history.

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The Belt and Road initiative has strengthened the region, but also the relationship between Pakistan and China.

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100% of unconnected territories will be connected to wifi, says Anusha Rahman Khan, making wifi like air. Alongside this, work is being done to improve digital skills. 20,000 young IT professionals are already produced by Pakistan every year, she says.

There's significant investment in healthcare as well, explains Saira Afzal Tarar. Particular gains have been made in routine vaccination and eradicating polio.

Pakistan is adding 1 million 3G or 4G customers every month - this is driven by young people, says Anusha Rahman Khan. It enables them to take advantage of technology.

Learn more about these issues and how they affect Pakistan by exploring our Transformation Map on the country.

16:45 UTC

Live now: The Crypto-Asset Bubble

"If you think about how seamless everything is with technology, and you think about our financial system, there is a mismatch. Who’s to say things will not be totally different?" says Jennifer Scott. There has been a lot of discussion of blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin, as a major disruptive force.

More scepticism from Professor Shiller.

"What bothers me about bitcoin is that the enthusiasm you see is like a speculative bubble. It's selfish," he says.

Earlier in the week, Christine Lagarde talked about the impact of bitcoin on the environment: mining a coin is surprisingly energy-intensive.

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Sweden is moving quickly towards a cashless society.

"We’re looking at potentially an e-Krona, far away into the future, we don’t know if we’ll use blockchain but it will work as a one-to-one exchange rate to the Krona, as a compliment to notes and coins," says Skingsley, representing the Swedish central bank.

Bitcoin's launch on future markets could make it more stable, says Shiller. Here's some background reading.

Jennifer Zhu Scott is explaining how bitcoin actually works - "yes, people memorise the key" - to Robert Shiller.

There is a lot of enthusiasm from the investor Neil Rimer.

"I think this is one of the most audacious, generous and profound inventions that I’ve witnessed in my career. We’re nine years into this experiment. It’s gone well at times and quite poorly. It could fail completely and go to zero, but it has accomplished a number of things I think are remarkable."

However, he concedes bitcoin is still "a hobbyist thing" - too inconvenient and volatile to be mainstream.

Bitcoin is raising concern and questions as well as optimism at Davos.

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Scepticism from Cecilia Skingsley, Sweden's deputy Central Bank governor.

"It's too volatile to be used as money." She makes the distinction between an asset and money - and bitcoins don't make the grade, in her view.

Cryptocurrencies "don’t meet criteria to be called money, they don’t store value, they fluctuate, and they’re not at a stable rate of exchange," she says.

Baffled by bitcoin? Fear not: read this.

"I tend to think of bitcoin as an interesting experiment not a permanent feature of our lives," says Robert Shiller, a Nobel Laureate economist.

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He says we should broaden our focus to blockchain, the underlying technology - and look to Chile.

He praised Chile's Unidad de Fomento, an alternative currency.

To begin, a quick poll of the panel shows half in favour of Bitcoin, half wanting to pass.

Valuations of bitcoin have reached unprecedented highs, and there are now close to 1,000 different crypto-assets on the market. Are these assets finally coming into their own or are they the seed of the next financial crisis?

Image: Coindesk

Featuring on the panel are:
Jennifer Zhu Scott, Principal, Radian Partners; Neil Rimer, General Partner and Co-Founder, Index Ventures SA; Cecilia Skingsley, Deputy Governor, Swedish Central Bank (Sveriges Riksbank); Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University and Yang Yanqing, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, YICAI Media Group

Altcoins, the collection of digital currencies inspired by Bitcoin, have a total market capitalisation of about $150bn as of October 2017.

But EU and UK authorities are planning to crack down on bitcoin as concerns grow that cryptocurrencies are being used to facilitate crime.

Others warn that the crypto bubble will soon burst: “It is hard to see bitcoin’s price surge as anything other than a bubble that will ultimately collapse. Bitcoin’s ostensible social function as an anonymous, nongovernmental means of payment carries big risks of its demise,” says Jeffrey D. Sachs is university professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University.

17:15 UTC

Climate's Two Degrees of Separation

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today. It is responsible for the increase in extreme weather events, as well as an unbroken series of hottest years on record. Indeed, environmental concerns and the threat posed by climate change have been a consistent feature of the World Economic Global Risks Report for the last decade.

Al Gore begins by outlining the progress of technology, from the agricultural revolution, through to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Part of the 4IR is the sustainability revolution. It's evolving incredibly quickly, so how can we navigate it, he asks.

The value spectrum is currently limited to short-termism, he argues. But, it's only a portion of the total. Issues, such as pollution or the depletion of natural resources, are left out.

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So how can we bring in the other parts, to ensure inclusive growth, examine the impact on the environment and the ethics and culture of business?

Climate change, driven by our actions, is having significant impacts on our environment, and beyond. Our Transformation Maps explore the wide reaching impacts of climate change:

Following Gore's presentation, the session moves on to a panel discussion. Karuna Rana talks about the 2C target, but this is not enough for small islands, she says. Seas could rise by 10cm and we risk losing all our coral reefs.

She then criticises the US plan to slap a 30% import tax on solar cells, which is "not acceptable."

Alpinist Hilaree O'Neill says her experiences in the mountains have given her a wealth of knowledge on climate change. Changes in snow pack and rising temperatures have made it harder for indigenous populations to live off the land, while sherpas in the Himalayas are finding it harder to make a living as climbing conditions are transformed by climate change.

Christiana Figueres, one of the chief architects of the Paris climate agreement, says we may have the much-discussed climate targets (to limit global warming to below 2C, or if possible, 1.5C), but what the agreement does not have written into it is urgency.

17:55 UTC

Joseph Stiglitz: Only outrage will stop tax evasion

Almost two years after the Panama Papers, the global tax system is still broken – and it's time to get indignant, says economist Joseph Stiglitz.

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18:38 UTC

To play is to learn. Time to step back and let kids be kids

Four leaders are launching a coalition to make play a priority in our children's lives.

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18:55 UTC

Robert Shiller: Bitcoin is just an 'interesting experiment'

The Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller described bitcoin as an “interesting experiment” rather than the future of our financial system.

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19:04 UTC

These young men are fighting for womens’ rights in Uganda

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19:05 UTC

What happened in Davos today? The best of Day 3

Malala on education, Teresa May on Britain, plus the secret of happiness. Here's your round-up of the third day of Davos.

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19:07 UTC

That's it from Day 3

And then, there was just one day to go.

Whether it was May on tech, Malala on equality, or Macri on tackling poverty, we hope you've enjoyed keeping up with everything on the liveblog.

Have a great evening, but before you go, here are just some of the sessions you can look forward to tomorrow (all times CET - which is GMT+1):

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