Angela Merkel To Skip Davos Amid Blowback Against “Global Elite”
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Jan 2, 2017
Last week we were surprised to learn that demand for hotel rooms at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, where the world’s billionaires, CEOs, politicians, celebrities and oligarchs mingle every year (while regaled by their public relations teams known as the “media”, for whom getting an invite to the DJ event du jour is more important than rocking the boat by asking unpleasant questions) was so great, not only are hotel rooms running out, but local employees may be put up in shipping containers in car parks to free up much needed accommodations.
This scramble to attend what has traditionally been perceived as the hangout for those who have benefited the most from “peak globalization” was in some ways surprising: coming after a year in which “populism” emerged as a dominant global force, while sending establishment politics, legacy policies and even globalization reeling, the message – in terms of lessons learned from 2016 – sent to the masses from the world’s 0.1% was hardly enlightened.
However, while most Davos participants remain tone deaf, one person has gotten the message loud and clear.
According to Reuters, German Chancellor Angela Merkel – who faces a crucial election this year as she runs for her 4th term as German chancellor amid sagging approval ratings – is steering clear of the World Economic Forum in Davos, a meeting expected to be dominated by debate over the looming presidency of Donald Trump “and rising public anger with elites and globalization”, which is ironic because just two years prior, the topic was rising wealth inequality which the world’s billionaires blasted, lamented and, well, got even richer as nothing at all changed.
The Rest…HERE
