Davos day one: Von der Leyen, Zelenskyy, Ding and Scholz to speak as Trump looms over WEF – live updates
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Good morning from Davos, where the first full day of the World Economic Forum is getting underway. We’ll hear from a slew of global leaders, as the world digests the inauguration of Donald Trump yesterday, and the flurry of executive orders from the White House.
That includes Ding Xuexiang, Vice-Premier of China, where there may be relief that Trump has declined to flesh out his plans for taxing Chinese imports. But while the much-feared trade war hasn’t kicked off, yet anyway, there’s anxiety over what the next few years will bring – with escalating armed conflict seen as the biggest risk facing the world economy.
Karen Harris, managing director of Bain & Company’s Macro Trends Group, points out that the last five years have been the most “macro-economically shocking in modern history”, starting with the Covid-19 pandemic and followed by the inflation shock.
Harris adds:. “As business and political leaders gather in Davos in 2025, one key question dominates: Will this tumultuous five-year period end with a gentle return to normal?. “The data suggests so. The IMF projects 2024 global growth at 3.2%, slightly below the 2010–2019 median of 3.5%, with 2025 growth at 3.3%. To our 2019 selves, these numbers might imply normalcy: the US and China driving growth, Europe sluggish, global output steady at 3–3.5%.
