Wall Street Partying in Davos as Bankers Overcome Crisis
The town of Davos, Switzerland, host site of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2011. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
An "I Love Davos" T-shirt sits on display in a store in Davos. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
As Wall Street chief executive officers flock to the World Economic Forum, they’ll be breathing a sigh of relief along with the Swiss mountain air: There are no panels on compensation or redesigning financial regulation.
After spending much of last year’s meeting defending the industry and debating proposed rules, bankers plan to focus on wooing clients and winning business, according to executives at three Wall Street companies, who spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly.
The bankers will be coming to Davos, Switzerland, with a renewed sense of confidence. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s profits last year were the highest in the bank’s history, and Citigroup Inc. returned money to the U.S. Treasury and reported its first full- year profit since 2007. Governments have so far opted against breaking up or levying extra taxes on banks deemed too big to fail, and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which sets global financial-regulatory guidelines, isn’t requiring lenders to meet new capital standards until 2015.
2. One should take the time and read what the IMF called back end of 2008 and early 2009 which were extremely doom and gloom scenarios and now they make again this pathetic calls - the mere fact that the president of the IMF and Worldbank ethnic roots are the same as the ones mentioned above is a pure coincidence and has no structural background.
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IMF Raises 2011 GDP Estimates on Stronger U.S. Growth
“The world economy is recovering, but it is a two-speed recovery,” IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard said in comments posted on the fund’s website. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for global economic growth this year, reflecting stronger U.S. output based on tax-cut extensions, while emerging nations lead the recovery.
The world economy will grow 4.4 percent, more than the 4.2 percent expected in October. Expansion next year is projected to reach 4.5 percent, unchanged from October, the IMF said today in an update to its World Economic Outlook report.
“The world economy is recovering, but it is a two-speed recovery,” IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard said in comments posted on the fund’s website. “Our forecast is that next year growth will be roughly the same as this year. That’s not going to be able to make a big dent to unemployment.”
While a faster-than-expected second half of 2010 helped put the world on a stronger foothold this year, the IMF warned that risks to its predictions remain “elevated.” It pressed euro- region governments to build a comprehensive plan to prevent sovereign-debt “financial stresses” from spreading out to other countries and urged emerging countries to closely watch the rise of asset price bubbles as inflation risks increase.
“In advanced economies, activity has moderated less than expected, but growth remains subdued,” the IMF said in the report. The institution said that in “many emerging economies, activity remains buoyant, inflation pressures are emerging, and there are now signs of overheating, driven in part by strong capital inflows.”
Rising Commodities
The IMF in a separate report today said that financial conditions have improved, with equity markets and commodity prices rising. It also warned that global financial stability is not assured yet, with the interaction between banking and sovereign credit risks in the 17-country euro region remaining “a critical factor.”
The IMF’s estimates are more optimistic than those of private forecasters, who expect global growth of 4.2 percent this year, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News this month.
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