Worrisome Davos
Pfäffikon SZ, Switzerland – Who is visiting Davos, believes in globalization and is opposed to protectionism. Cross-border movement of capital and individuals is the way forward according to the average visitor of the WEF in Davos. That, however, is precisely what the new American President Donald Trump wants to prevent.
Trump clan
By coincidence, the undersigned was more often in Davos the last days. Obviously, you hear somewhat more on what is going on during the WEF. Striking is the sometimes scathing critique on Trump. Some persons want nothing to do with the Trump clan and try, also business wise, to wriggle out. So much power given to a personality that tends toward narcissism would be dangerous and stupid; whose deed.
Middle class
On the other side stands the middle class, that in many cases did not progress financially over the past decade. They feel cheated by the elite in Davos and speak out their dislike. Donald Trump is basically against everything the WEF in Davos stands for. He shines by its absence but is the talk of the day in the highest town in Europe. Trump’s freshest arrows are focused on the German car manufacturer BMW who hold on to build the successful 3-series in Mexico. This is a thorn in the side of Trump. Consequently he threatens with tax increases. An interesting detail is that the roots of the Trump family lie in Germany.
Egoïsme
The elite in Davos has probably paid too little attention to the drawbacks of globalization. The man in the street, after all, look no further than the next block and his payslip and notes dryly that it is not getting better with him in many ways. Economic egoism is the consequence, and gives a whole new dimension to the present times; Trump has sensed this in great detail.
The visitor in Davos looks somewhat worrisome and scratches his head; how has it come this far? A Brexit, Trump, divisive elections in Europe; it’s almost too many to mention. Trump has an eraser in his hand and intends to eliminate the era Obama simple and fast. At the Davos visitor the clean task of taking the mutinous middle class seriously and to quickly adapt their behavior to the changing circumstances.
It remains for me to wish you a good weekend.
Jan Dwarshuis is CIO at Thirteen Asset Management AG. Dwarshuis writes his columns in a personal capacity. Professionally, he holds positions in major European, American and Russian stock funds. The information in his columns is not intended as professional investment advice or a recommendation to make certain investments. At the time of writing, he has position in BMW and not in above mentioned shares and has no intention of doing so in the next 72 hours.
