Dear Klaus Schwab,
I wanted to let you know I won't be able to make it to this year's schuss-and-schmooze in Davos.
What with the Renaissance Weekend and the Alfalfa Dinner, my calendar has been kind of tight. Herb Allen has already sent out the save-the-date card for the annual moguls meeting in Sun Valley, which I'll have to sandwich in between Bohemian Grove and the Fed's retreat at Jackson Hole. And with Conrad Black on the injured reserve list, a lot of the Bilderberg planning has fallen to me.
To tell you the truth, Klaus, I have to admire how our CEO friends can attend all these sessions, serve on four or five boards and still run $50 billion companies. You have to wonder whether they spend as much time talking to their customers and front-line employees as they do talking to one another.
Even without me, however, it looks like Washington will be well represented at Davos this year.
I see from the Preliminary Programme that you'll have nearly enough U.S. senators for a quorum call (Shelby, Hatch, Smith, Sununu, Dodd, Chambliss, Frist, Biden and McCain).
And even though the priorities of Davos Man -- climate change, corporate social responsibility, global governance, income equality -- don't quite line up with those of Crawford Man, you've managed to snare a respectable crew from the Bush administration: Chao (Labor), Aldonas (Commerce), Taylor (Treasury), Zoellick (USTR), Forbes (CEA), Donaldson (SEC) and Powell (FCC). I'm sure the boss will want them all to attend tomorrow's session on "Does God Love Democracy?"
For old time's sake, there's also a sizable Clinton contingent: Gore, Summers, Eizenstat, Tyson, Sperling, Gergen, Deutch, Caputo and the Big Man himself. You might want to remind them again about tomorrow's panel called "Reinvent Yourself." And given the recent unpleasantness, it might be better to keep Summers away from the session on "Women and the World in 2020."
I see that John Sweeney from the AFL-CIO is coming, although I wouldn't bother saving him a seat at Friday's discussion on "How to Make Global Outsourcing Work."
And despite the usual heavy Wall Street and Silicon Valley presence, the Washington business community will be well represented. Considering all the money he raises there, you might consider adding David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group as moderator for the panel on "Saudi Arabia's Deepest Challenge." And I bet Dick Syron of Freddie Mac and Michael Capellas could tell a few stories at Friday's session on "Playing the Corporate Numbers Game."
While we're on the subject of the agenda, let me say I thought it a brilliant stroke choosing Steve Forbes to lead Friday's discussion on "The Unholy Alliance between the Media and Extremists." Surely nobody is better suited to speak to both sides of that issue.
In all candor, Klaus, I remain impressed with the crowd of world leaders, tycoons and talking heads you are able to turn out despite all the unfair attacks over the years. First there was that Harvard turncoat, Sam Huntington, pointing out the arrogance of rich, white Christians thinking they could impose their western values on the Muslim world. Then came the lefties and their paranoia about a corporate plutocracy meeting behind closed doors to impose free trade and investment on a globalized economy. Now, a transatlantic rift threatens the consensus around the idea of global governance and your particular brand of corporate socialism.
But mostly, Klaus, I admire your unbending faith that continuous dialogue among 2,000 of the world's smartest, richest and most powerful people can flush out the best new ideas, hold governments and great corporations to account, and bring peace and prosperity to the global village. Never mind that history's lesson is that most breakthrough ideas come from upstarts and outcasts and revolutionaries determined to overturn the established order. Or that, in a network world, change happens from the bottom up, not the top down. For me, as for you, the Davos Spirit lives.
By the way, Klaus, my invitation must have been waylaid in the mail this year. Next time, just send it to pearlsteins@washpost.com.
