World Economic Forum: Davos Under Fire

[Joanne98]

Public Eye Awards 2009
by Gustavo Capdevila

DAVOS, Switzerland - One of the few indicators on the rise at this time of economic and financial crisis is the level of repudiation expressed about those responsible for the disaster, and about the institutions sponsoring them.

This became apparent at this eastern Swiss tourist resort, the venue for the annual sessions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), one of the arenas which has supported the deregulation policies blamed for causing the crisis.

Socialist Swiss lawmaker Susanne Leutenegger was outspoken in linking the WEF with the crisis. The Davos Forum has been one of the ideological agencies behind these policies, as finance, industry and politics mingled at the Forum sessions, which started 39 years ago, she said.

This was the place where contacts and informal networks were established, while politicians sat "below the salt" and the media were fascinated by the rich and powerful global élite, she continued, saying the Forum was "a fly-by-night lobby operation for the bankrupt neoliberal (free market) business model".

Leutenegger was speaking at the awards ceremony of the Public Eye on Davos, organized by Swiss non-governmental organizations The Bern Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland, where "dubious distinctions" are conferred on companies that have shamefully violated ethical and environmental principles.

As a result of these awards and the political content of the prize-giving ceremonies, the Public Eye has been, since 2000, one of the most critical observers of the Davos Forum.

Back then, the media were in such a frenzy about Davos that they stifled voices of critical dissent calling for a more socially responsible economy with sustainable policies, Leutenegger said.

The global Public Eye award went this year to U.S. mining company Newmont, the world's largest gold producer, for its "scandalous" practices in Ghana, where it has destroyed unique natural habitats, carried out forced resettlement of local people and polluted soil and rivers, according to the jury.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/01/31-0