If Davos didn't exist, would we have to invent it…as an email?

Not so magic a mountain? Photo by Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash

“Has there ever been a ‘meeting that should have been an email’ so glaring as Davos?” That’s the anguished question Hamilton Nolan, a labour reporter for the American progressive magazine In These Times recently asked.

Mr Nolan’s question is to be expected round this time of year. Mid-January, regular as clockwork, pointy headed people start to ask: “Does the world need Davos?”

In its 53rd year, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual alpine gathering has become the focus of deep polarisation. The sweaty masses distrust its glamourous mission, sweeping agenda and worthy liberalism, all delivered in perfectly pitched language that covers diversity, inclusion, equality, as well as sustainable development.

The middle class is scornful about the reality of Davos — a week-long, A-list super-bash in the snow for CEOs, celebrities and supposedly compassionate politicians.

And it’s not just the sweaty masses and the middle classes. The a…