Cowbells and cuckoo clocks in Davos

This week nearly 1,200 chief executives and chairmen, plus another thousand celebrities, politicians, academics and others who might describe themselves as power brokers, not to mention a small army of journalists, lobbyists and public relations people will converge on Davos for the World Economic Forum.

But there will not be very many women according to this article.

Not that women should alarm themselves too much. Davos does not have a great reputation for getting things done. It produces various publications such as its Global Gender Gap Report. But the above article would suggest that its organisers do not read them.

Yes, it has launched various initiatives that have done something to bring together businesses and political administrations. But its biggest benefit seems to be for Davos itself where increased sales of Swiss Army pen knifes, cowbells and cuckoo clocks ensure the continued health of its shopkeepers.

At least it is living proof that man-made global warming is a reality thanks to the billions of cubic meters of hot air it generates each year. Then there's the giant hole in the snow that is the Davos carbon footprint. We might be thankful, however, that this year it is getting some of the world's most senior bankers out of their offices for a while, saving depositors from even more damage, at least for a few days.

They say that pinstripes are out and sack cloth is in this year. Don't you believe it. The ritual massaging of egos and mutual bolstering of confidence among those disillusioned enough to believe in their omnipotence will continue unabated.

Summing up, a precis of the annual output of Davos amounts to this: "We have got to something about X" where X can be: world poverty, AIDS, malaria, global warming, or, this year, the international banking crisis. It would be a refreshing change one year if the bosses admitted that "x" meant "keeping our jobs."