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Davos 2020: Greta demands climate action but Trump blasts pessimists - Day One as it happened

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The first day of the World Economic Forum has been dominated by Donald Trump’s special address, and climate activist Greta Thunberg

 Updated 
Tue 21 Jan 2020 14.47 ESTFirst published on Tue 21 Jan 2020 02.14 EST
'What will you tell your children?': Greta Thunberg blasts climate inaction at Davos – video

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The CEOs dining with Trump tonight

More than 20 top bosses are dining with Donald Trump tonight, including the bosses of Saudi Aramco, Sony, Softbank, BP and Barclays.

Here’s the full list, via the White House pool.

  • Dr. Patrice Motsepe, Founder & Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals, South Africa
  • Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Rakuten Inc., Japan
  • Dr. Joerg Reinhardt, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Novartis AG, Switzerland
  • Sergio P. Ermotti, Group Chief Executive Officer, UBS AG, Switzerland
  • Joe Kaeser, President & Chief Executive Officer, Siemens AG, Germany
  • Amin H. Nasser, President & Chief Executive Officer, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia
  • Tidjane Thiam, Chief Executive Officer, Credit Suisse AG, Switzerland
  • Kenichiro Yoshida, President & Chief Executive Officer, Sony Corporation, Japan
  • Gianni Infantino, President, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, Switzerland
  • Jes Staley, Group Chief Executive Officer, Barclays, United Kingdom
  • Robert Dudley, Group Chief Executive, BP Plc, United Kingdom
  • Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Netherlands
  • Bill Thomas, Global Chairman, KPMG, Canada
  • Dr. Herbert Diess, Chief Executive Officer, Volkswagen AG, Germany
  • Rajeev Suri, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nokia Corporation, Finland
  • Farouk A Bastaki, Managing Director & Chairman of the Executive Committee, Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), Kuwait
  • Lim Chow Kiat, Chief Executive Officer, GIC Private Limited (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Private Limited), Singapore
  • Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Chief Executive Officer, Temasek International Pte Ltd, Singapore
  • Bernard Arnault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, LVMH Moët Hennessy, France
  • Börje Ekholm, President and Chief Executive Officer, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Sweden
  • Masayoshi Son, Chief Executive Officer, SoftBank, Japan
  • Rajeev Misra, Board Director & Executive Vice President, SoftBank, Japan
  • Ana Botin, Group Executive Chairman, Banco Santander, Spain
  • Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ArcelorMittal, Luxembourg
  • Mansoor Bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar

FIFA CEO: Trump is a winner

Gianno Infantino, FIFA president, gave Donald Trump a soccer ball at tonight’s global CEOs dinner “just to remind everyone what the real priority is of life.”

That’s according to the White House press pool, who also report that Infantino then doused Trump in flattery:

Infantino compared POTUS to the world-class athletes he often interacts with: “President Trump is made of the same sort of fiber.

He is competitive... He wants to win.”

I’m tempted to book Infantino for excessive creeping.

Photos: Trump at Davos

US President Donald Trump has held a series of meetings with world leaders today, having installed his team in a prime suite in WEF’s congress centre.

That includes Swiss Confederation President Simonetta Sommaruga (who criticised the move towards divisive populism during her speech to WEF today).

Sommaruga and Trump apparently discussed “bilateral issues and reiterated their interest in boosting trade ties”.

US President Donald Trump speaks with Swiss Confederation President Simonetta Sommaruga ahead of their meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, on January 21, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

... and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trump is now enjoying a dinner with top CEOs in Davos, including FIFA President Gianni Infantino, we see....

Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
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Harvard economist Ken Rogoff has pulled Kudlow up short, over his claims that countries should just cut tax rates, deregulate, and let the economy run along.

Kudlow in Davos, at panel on fiscal/monetary space, says "Cutting marginal tax rates and reducing regulations is so much more fun than waiting for the central bank."

"Well, until you have a financial crisis," Ken Rogoff replies.

— Kate Davidson (@KateDavidson) January 21, 2020

Kudlow: Fed is doing QE4

Oof! Larry Kudlow agrees that the Federal Reserve is quietly conducting a new quantitative easing scheme, even if it denies it.

Donald Trump’s economics expert says that the Fed’s recent policy of buying $60bn of short-term Treasury bills is effectively a stimulus programme

The Fed claims it’s simply providing liquidity to keep the plumping of the financial system flowing. But Kudlow isn’t convinced, pointing out that the markets aren’t either!

The net effect is that they are expanding the balance sheet, whatever you want to call it. It’s no wonder the stock market and the housing market is rising.

Larry Kudlow then hints that the Federal Reserve could consider cutting borrowing costs....

Speaking delicately, he says the Fed has done a good job in 2019, reversing its rate rises in 2018.

I wouldn’t mind seeing them be a little bolder. Our short-term rates in and around the Fed Funds market could be a little lower.

I wouldn’t want to criticise them, though, Kudlow adds (not that this has ever stopped his boss!).

In case anyone missed his message the first time, Kudlow reiterates that:

These negative rates are just not helping banks recover.

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