It was snowing when I arrived in Davos this afternoon, after an overnight flight from New York and a train ride up from Zurich. There is a lot of snow blanketing the ground and there is talk of freezing weather on the way. I leave it to you to draw an analogy with the global economy.

The mood here is different from last year when the biggest media story of the opening days was an insubstantial tale about Todd Thomson’s departure from Citigroup. Then, there was a lot of talk about whether the good economic and financial times could last. This year they are obviously over.

As Stephen Roach observes on his FT Davos blog, the Federal Reserve’s 75 basis point cut in the face of growing fears of a US recession will be the big talking point when the World Economic Forum’s sessions start tomorrow. One of the first panels features Nouriel Roubini, whose consistently bearish outlook has been looking wise recently.

I went this evening to PwC’s launch in Davos of its annual survey of attitudes among global CEOs. Sam DiPiazza, PwC’s chief executive, opened the event by saying that the firm was serving champagne - as indeed it was - to celebrate the Fed’s drastic action.

There was a pause, during which nobody laughed as they were intended to do. "That was a joke, by the way," Mr DiPiazza added.

PwC’s survey showed falling confidence among chief executives in developed countries - particularly the US and Italy - although those in developing economies including India and China are buoyant. Perhaps that is evidence of decoupling or perhaps they are yet to feel the pain.

January 22nd, 2008 in Davos08 | Permalink