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Davos, Global economic growth is estimated to fall to its lowest rate in three decades by 2030 amid the ongoing economic and geopolitical shocks, a new report said on Monday. <keyword id="20205587" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="releasing-the-future-of-growth-report" source="keywords">Releasing the Future of Growth Report</keyword> 2024 here ahead of its annual meeting of world leaders, the <keyword id="20020435" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-economic-forum" source="keywords">World Economic Forum</keyword> (<keyword id="19955159" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wef" source="keywords">WEF</keyword>) said this downturn is exacerbating a range of interconnected global challenges, including the climate crisis and a weakening social contract, which are collectively reversing progress in global development. <br /><br /> The report called for a new approach to economic growth that balances efficiency with long-term sustainability and equity, examining speed, and quality together. <br /><br /> Analysing the quality of growth across 107 economies, it found that high-income economies score high on innovation and inclusion, while lower-income economies on sustainability. <br /><br /> "Reigniting global growth will be essential to addressing key challenges, yet growth alone is not enough," WEF Managing Director <keyword id="20205586" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saadia-zahidi" source="keywords">Saadia Zahidi</keyword> said. <br /><br /> "The report proposes a new way for assessing economic growth that balances efficiency with long-term sustainability, resilience and equity, as well as innovation for the future, aligning with both global and national priorities," she added. <br /><br /> The WEF also launched its 'Future of Growth' initiative, a two-year endeavour aimed at charting a new narrative for economic growth and supporting policymakers from around the world, together with economists and other experts, in identifying the best pathways in balance growth, innovation, inclusion, sustainability, and resilience goals. <br /><br /> The report said that most countries continue to grow in ways that are neither sustainable nor inclusive and are limited in their ability to absorb or generate innovation and minimise their contribution and susceptibility to global shocks.

Global economic slowdown headed for worst phase in three decades: WEF study

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Organizers of the World Economic Forum in Davos are pushing back on Elon Musk's claim that he declined an invitation because it's "boring af."</li><li>A WEF spokesperson told the AP that Musk was last invited in 2015 to the yearly gathering of business execs and world leaders.</li></ul><p>Elon Musk and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/world-economic-forum-davos-economy-finance-outlook-gloomy-recession-wef-2023-1">World Economic Forum</a> are at odds over the reason for his absence from the global conference.</p><p>The World Economic Forum <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/world-economic-forum-davos-hotel-wef-preparations-2023-1">takes place every year in Davos, Switzerland,</a> where billionaire CEOs, world leaders, and other influential figures gather to discuss a range of global issues, from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/helena-gualinga-davos-fossil-fuels-climate-crisis-2023-1">climate change</a> to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-add-billions-fortunes-daily-shows-trickle-down-not-real-2023-1">the cost-of-living crisis</a>.</p><p>Musk, a vocal critic of the conference who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-gives-up-top-spot-forbes-list-arnault-lvmh-2022-12">was the world's richest person until December</a>, recently said he was invited to the conference but chose to skip it. The organizers of the WEF, however, beg to differ: They say the Twitter CEO hasn't been invited in nearly a decade.</p><p>WEF spokesperson Yann Zopf <a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-san-francisco-european-union-7a82416400545f313ff46c0180e606d7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told the Associated Press</a> on Tuesday that the last time Musk was invited was "not this year and not recently — last time in 2015." Musk never registered or attended on the handful of occasions he was invited to the conference in the 2010s, Zopf told the AP.</p><p>Meanwhile, Musk wrote in a <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1606559431881285632?s=20&amp;t=kPnx0y6okqciWOuKRPqKOw">tweet</a> last month, "I was invited to WEF, but declined."<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1606559431881285632"></a></p><p>In another <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1608905643020406784?">tweet</a> a week later, Musk added, "My reason for declining the Davos invitation was not because I thought they were engaged in diabolical scheming, but because it sounded boring af lol."<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1608905643020406784"></a></p><p>Musk didn't specify in the tweets if he was referring to the 2023 conference, but the timing of those tweets a month before this year's convention suggests as much.</p><p>The Tesla CEO has also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-questions-davos-existence-compares-to-online-forum-4chan-2023-1">criticized the WEF more recently</a>. In response to a video of the conference's opening speech on Monday, Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1615195812388274177?s=20&amp;t=tzJC0csEdEnBO46c0X1Y4Q">tweeted</a>, "How is WEF/Davos even a thing?"</p>

Elon Musk says he isn't at Davos because it's 'boring af.' Organizers say they haven't invited him since 2015.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/license/183575781">Andrew Burton/Getty Images</a></span></p><p class="caption">WEF says blockchain will become the 'beating heart' of finance.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The World Economic Forum (WEF) has concluded that blockchain technology "will fundamentally alter the way financial institutions do business around the world" after a year-long study of the emerging technology.</p><p>WEF's <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_future_of_financial_infrastructure.pdf">"Future of Financial Infrastructure" report, published on Friday,</a> said distributed ledger technology, more commonly known as blockchain, "has great potential to drive simplicity and efficiency" in financial services and "will redraw processes and call into question orthodoxies that are foundational to today's business models."</p><p>The influential non-profit believes blockchain will one day be as ingrained in financial services as past innovations like mainframes, messaging services, and electronic trading have become.</p><p>Giancarlo Bruno, Head of Financial Services Industries at WEF, says in an email announcing the report's publication:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Rather than to stay at the margins of the finance industry blockchain will become the beating heart of it. It will help build innovative solutions across the industry, becoming ever more integrated into the structure of financial services, as mainframes, messaging services, and electronic trading did before it."</p><p>This is not a pie-in-the-sky prediction. WEF and collaborator Deloitte took 12 months to put the report together and talked to almost all of the world's top investment banks, central banks around the world, and startups.</p><p>The research included input from Barclays, BlackRock, Lloyds, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Zurich Insurance, MasterCard, Visa, JPMorgan, Coinbase, Circle, the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority, the European Central Bank, and the US Federal Reserve, among others.</p><h2>From bitcoin to banking</h2><p>Blockchain is a kind of database protocol first developed to underpin digital currency bitcoin. Instead of one central database of who owns what, blockchain allows for a network of identical, linked databases that talk to each other and are updated simultaneously.</p><p>Every time someone wants to make a change or add something onto the blockchain (the shared database), the majority of members of the network must sign off on it. This cuts out the need for middle men in transactions, because the fact that everyone signs off means trust is built into the system.</p><p>By cutting out middle men, cost is reduced. The process of the group signing off on transactions should also theoretically reduce error.</p><p>Bitcoin's original blockchain is used to record bitcoin transactions - but the tech could theoretically be used to record just about anything that involves transactions. Applications are being developed for everything from <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/asx-pioneers-blockchain-technology-2016-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">share records</a> to <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/mediachain-announces-15-million-seed-round-from-usv-a16z-others-decentralised-media-blockchain-2016-6">art</a> and <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/everledger-ledger-diamonds-blockchain-tech-theft-fraud-2015-8">diamonds</a>.</p><p>WEF says applications of the technology "will differ by use case, each leveraging the technology in different ways for a diverse range of benefits." <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/goldman-blockchain-beyond-the-hype-practical-uses-2016-5">Goldman Sachs has already identified 5 potential real-world use cases for the technology.</a></p><h2>'Not a panacea'</h2><p>While WEF is bullish on the potential of blockchain, the WEF report adds that blockchain is "not a panacea" and "should be viewed as one of many technologies that will form the foundation of next-generation financial services infrastructure."</p><p>Bob Contri, Global Financial Services Industry leader at Deloitte Global, which worked on the report, says in an emailed statement:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Before full adoption is possible, there are factors that need to be addressed, including an uncertain regulatory environment, lack of standardization efforts, and the need for a formal legal framework."</p><p>Credit Suisse recently highlighted what it sees as <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/credit-suisse-on-the-challenges-for-blockchain-going-mainstream-2016-8">8 key challenges that blockchain must overcome before it can break into mainstream financial services.</a></p><p>The WEF report adds: "The most impactful DLT [distributed ledger technology] applications will require deep collaboration between incumbents, innovators and regulators, adding complexity and delaying implementation."</p><h2>$1.4 billion in 3 years</h2><p>Banks and financial institutions have been going crazy for blockchain technology over the last year and a half. Institutions are spending thousands on <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/r-jpmorgan-launches-blockchain-trial-project-ft-2016-1">proof of concepts using the technology</a>, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/goldman-blockchain-beyond-the-hype-practical-uses-2016-5">issuing countless white papers</a>, and <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/r3-fixed-income-trading-blockchain-experiment-2016-3">joining industry-wide bodies to figure out how to use the protocol.</a></p><p>WEF says 80% of banks are predicted to start blockchain projects by 2017 and $1.4 billion has been invested into the technology over the past three years. 90 central banks are looking at the technology.</p><p>WEF identifies six "key value drivers", which are basically reasons why everyone is going so gaga for it. They are (remember DLT is distributed ledger technology, just another way of talking about blockchain):<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>World Economic Forum</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The report also sets out some examples of what these benefits might look like in practice for finance firms:<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>World Economic Forum</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="tagline"><div id="categorypromo"><p></p></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/emv-chips-credit-cards-security-flaw-hackers-identity-theft-2016-8">There's a glaring security problem with those new credit card chips</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tmdm01NTE6JmRgeHTY0MqXcJE45hMLa5" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

WEF: Blockchain will become the 'beating heart' of finance

<keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>'s rank on the <keyword id="20020435" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Economic-Forum" source="keywords">World Economic Forum</keyword>'s <keyword id="21747126" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Travel-Tourism-Development-Index-2024" source="Orion">Travel &amp; Tourism Development Index 2024</keyword> has risen to 39th place, with global tourism activities returning to pre-pandemic levels, the annual report showed on Tuesday. While the US topped the list, India is ranked highest in South Asia and among the lower-middle-income economies, the <keyword id="102110" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WEF" source="Orion">WEF</keyword> said. <br /><br />India was ranked 54th in the previously published index in 2021, though changes made to the index parameters limit its comparability to earlier years. <br /><br />After the US, Spain, Japan, France and Australia figure among the top five in the 2024 list. <br /><br />The index, prepared in collaboration with the University of Surrey, showed India is highly price-competitive (18th) and boasts competitive Air Transport (26th) and Ground and Port (25th) infrastructure. <br /><br />In particular, India's strong Natural (6th), Cultural (9th) and Non-Leisure (9th) Resources help drive travel, and the country is only one of three to score in the top 10 for all the resource pillars, the WEF said. <br /><br />Moreover, despite a decline compared to 2019, the country still scores well for <keyword id="2173225" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="travel-and-tourism" source="Orion">travel and tourism</keyword> demand sustainability, especially thanks to more sustainable long stays among inbound visitors. <br /><br />It further said that as with many economies, travel and tourism enabling conditions in India have been impacted by global inflationary supply-side trends for the sector, with price competitiveness declining, while air transport and tourist services infrastructure are yet to recover to the 2019 level. <br /><br />As a result, the country's overall TTDI (Travel and Tourism Development Index) score is 2.1 per cent below its 2019 level. <br /><br />High-income economies in Europe and Asia-Pacific continued to lead the index. <br /><br />"International tourist arrivals and the travel and tourism sector's contribution to global GDP are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, driven by the lifting of COVID-19-related travel restrictions and strong pent-up demand," the WEF said. <br /><br />The Middle East had the highest recovery rates in international tourist arrivals (20 per cent above the 2019 level), while Europe, Africa and the Americas all showed a strong recovery of around 90 per cent in 2023. <br /><br />The biennial index analysed the travel and tourism sectors of 119 countries around a range of factors and policies. <br /><br />Germany was ranked 6th, followed by the UK, China, Italy and Switzerland in the top ten. <br /><br />The results highlighted that high-income economies generally continue to have more favourable conditions for travel and tourism development. <br /><br />This was helped by conducive business environments, dynamic labour markets, open travel policies, strong transport and tourism infrastructure, and well-developed natural, cultural and non-leisure attractions.

India rises to rank 39th on WEF's Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024, becomes highest ranked South Asian nation

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>The World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked the top 10 threats to the global economy and international order in its <a href="http://reports.weforum.org/outlook-global-agenda-2015/wp-content/blogs.dir/59/mp/files/pages/files/outlook-2015-a4-downloadable.pdf">latest outlook report released Friday</a>. The WEF labels them "trends", however, they are all rather terrifying. </p>
<p>This year, the WEF got Nobel Prize winner and <a href="http://forumblog.org/2014/11/top-10-trends-world-2015/?utm_content=bufferc6ef9&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer">former US vice president Al Gore to explain the list, </a>reprinted below:</p>
<ol>
<li>Deepening income inequality</li>
<li>Persistent jobless growth</li>
<li>Lack of leadership</li>
<li>Rising geostrategic competition</li>
<li>Weakening of representative democracy</li>
<li>Rising pollution in the developing world</li>
<li>Increasing occurrence of severe weather events</li>
<li>Intensifying nationalism</li>
<li>Increasing water stress</li>
<li>Growing importance of health in the economy</li>
</ol>
<p>French economist <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/least-read-book-of-the-year-2014-7">Thomas Piketty's 700-page book on inequality</a> seems to have had an impact, with inequality leaping into first place from second last year.</p>
<p>The WEF reproduced a chart from the World Top Incomes Database, which Piketty has worked on: </p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="WEF" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/545c8977dd0895114e8b45fc-960/screen shot 2014-11-07 at 07.51.16.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>WEF</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>There are a couple of other interesting visualisations in the report. Some Pew research shows that a growing number of people view China, rather than the United States, as the world's chief economic power:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="WEF" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/545c8977dd0895114e8b45fd-960/screen shot 2014-11-07 at 07.38.00.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>WEF</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>And in Europe specifically, it looks like very few people are putting a lot of trust in the European Union:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="WEF" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/545c8977dd0895114e8b45fe-960/screen shot 2014-11-07 at 08.20.42.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>WEF</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>

The World Economic Forum Names The 10 Biggest Threats On Earth

New Delhi, Jun 23 () The World Economic Forum on Tuesday called for use of latest technologies to help create workplaces that are fair, equitable and diverse in a post-COVID-19 world. <p>The WEF said as businesses emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, they have a unique opportunity to ensure that equity, inclusion and justice define the "new normal" and tackle exclusion, bias and discrimination related to race, gender, ability, sexual orientation and all other forms of human diversity. </p><p>Geneva-based WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public private cooperation, said technology alone cannot create fair, equitable and diverse workplaces as it requires an integrated strategy that blends new technological tools with human-centric approaches. Releasing a ''Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 Toolkit'', the WEF said it outlines novel technologies with the potential to establish best practices that were previously out of reach. </p><p>For example, new systems can review job applications at scale in far greater detail than a typically resourced people and culture department. These systems can identify and reduce bias, introduce greater transparency and visibility, and provide timely analytics, it added. The toolkit also cautions against adopting unproven solutions which can result in a range of unintended consequences and contain biases that deepen rather than counteract exclusion. </p><p>The toolkit cites research that suggests well-managed diverse teams significantly outperform homogenous ones over time, across profitability, innovation, decision-making and employee engagement. Conversely, companies that fall behind their peers in diversity, equity and inclusion are less likely to achieve above-average profitability. </p><p>"Successful organizations are powered by the diverse opinions, skill sets and life experiences of their employees. Ensuring racial justice, gender parity, disability inclusion, LGBTI equality and inclusion of all forms of human diversity needs to be the 'new normal' in the workplace set to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis and it is clear that technology can be leveraged to help rapidly make this a reality," said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. </p><p>The toolkit was developed in collaboration with leading experts and practitioners from the WEF's Global Future Council on the New Equality and Inclusion Agenda. </p>The WEF has also recently established a unique high-level community of Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officers from top global companies to drive action in this space by exchanging best practices and exploring emerging trends, opportunities and risks. BJ ANU ANU

WEF suggests tech tools for fair and inclusive workplaces in post-COVID-19 world

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Closing the <keyword id="2191211" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="gender-pay-gap">gender pay gap</keyword> will take an extra 36 years, the <keyword id="69007" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="World-Economic-Forum">World Economic Forum</keyword> said Tuesday.</li><li>The prediction has climbed from 100 years to 136 years because of the impact of the pandemic.</li><li>5% of all employed women lost their jobs during the pandemic, compared with 3.9% of employed men.</li></ul><p>Achieving global <keyword id="6358360" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="gender">gender</keyword> parity will take an extra 36 years because of the coronavirus pandemic, a World Economic Forum (<keyword id="102110" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="WEF">WEF</keyword>) <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2021">report</a> said.</p><p>Previously, in the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/gender-gap-2020-report-100-years-pay-equality">Global Gender Pay report 2020</a> (published 16 December 2019), the WEF estimated that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wage-gap-gender-data-top-us-cities-2018-4">gender pay gap</a> could take around 100 years to close. It's now increased its prediction to nearly 136 years.</p><p>"Preliminary evidence suggests that the health emergency and the related economic downturn have impacted women more severely than men, partially reopening gaps that had already been closed," the report said.</p><p>The WEF calculated worldwide gender parity through economic participation and opportunity, political empowerment, health and education across 156 countries.</p><p>It will take around 146 years to attain gender equality in politics, and 268 years for men and women to get the same <keyword id="10876" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="salary">salary</keyword> for similar work, the report said. It added that the data doesn't yet fully reflect the impact of the pandemic, which could extend the gaps further.</p><p>Gender parity has improved in the education sector, taking another 14 years to completely close, and the gap in health between men and women will take a similar amount of time.</p><p>The WEF report cited the International Labour Organization (ILO) that said 5% of all employed women lost their jobs during the pandemic, compared with 3.9% of employed men. There was also a decline in hiring women into senior positions, according to LinkedIn data.</p><p>"There is a persistent lack of women in leadership positions, with women representing only 27% of all manager positions," the report said.</p><p>Sectors such as cloud computing, engineering, data and AI are more likely to have gender gaps as the uptake of women for these kinds of jobs is fairly low, the WEF added.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-ask-for-a-raise-pay-gap-salary-transparency">Here's how to find out if you're underpaid at work, and the exact script to use when asking your boss for a salary increase</a></em></p><p>WEF managing director Saadia Zahidi wrote in the report: "The hardest-hit sectors by lockdowns and rapid digitalization are those where women are more frequently employed."</p><p>"Combined with the additional pressures of providing care in the home, the crisis has halted progress toward gender parity in several economies and industries," she said.</p><p>Zahidi added that she hoped the report would be a "call to action" for countries to focus on gender equality in the post-pandemic recovery.</p><p>According to data from the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cps/earnings.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>, average weekly earnings for men who were older than 16 and working full-time was $408 compared to $251 for women - that's 61.5% of a man's weekly earnings. This has increased to 81.7% in the third quarter of 2020.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gender-wage-pay-gap-charts-2017-3#overall-black-and-hispanic-women-face-the-biggest-pay-gap-when-comparing-earnings-to-non-hispanic-white-men-4">Insider reported in March</a> that the gender <keyword id="6465593" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wage">wage</keyword> gap in the US varies widely by state, city and race, with Black and Hispanic women facing the largest <keyword id="6357145" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pay-gap">pay gap</keyword> in comparison to non-Hispanic white men's earnings.</p>

Closing the global gender gap will take an extra 36 years due to the impact of the pandemic, the World Economic Forum said

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Marty Walsh, the labor secretary, said at the WEF the US needs more women as CEOs and board members. </li><li>Having women in these positions could close the gender pay gap, he said.</li></ul><p>Marty Walsh, the US labor secretary, on Tuesday said he wanted to see more women become CEOs and board members so that the gender pay gap can be closed.</p><p>During a round table discussion at the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Walsh spoke to the media about recession, wages, and inequity in the workforce.</p><p>Insider's Cadie Thompson asked Walsh about how companies should address the difference in earnings between genders after many women dropped out of the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>"Companies shouldn't have to pass legislation to realize there's an inequity pay gap in the United States of America," Walsh replied.</p><p>Walsh said the US needed to have more women CEOs and board members. They would be able to focus on the imbalance of wages and "close that gap immediately," he said during the discussion.</p><p>The WEF estimated in its Global Gender Gap <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Report,</a> published in July, that it would take 132 years to close the gender gap. This was compared with 2021 when the WEF predicted it would take 136 years.</p><p>Many factors can contribute to the gender wage gap, including unconscious bias, age, and racial discrimination, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/gender-pay-gap">Insider's Melanie Lockert</a> reported.</p><p>"The bottom line is that a woman should be paid the same as a man doing the same job," Walsh said. </p><p>Businesses need to understand that they need to close the pay gap, he said. "This isn't over time, this isn't a business model, this needs to happen."</p><p>The WEF said in its July report that the global gender gap had been closed by around 68%.</p>

US labor secretary says he wants more women to be CEOs and board members so the gender pay gap can immediately close

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ian Walton/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">American competitiveness was hurt by trade and geopolitical tensions, the WEF said.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The US is no longer the most economically competitive country in the world. </strong></li><li><strong>That's according to the World Economic Forum, which has has been assessing economic competitiveness for the last 40 years, looking at how "institutions, policies and factors" determine levels of productivity of a country. </strong></li><li><strong>Singapore took the top spot, as the country benefitted from trade reroutes as a result of the trade war. </strong></li><li><strong><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com">View Markets Insider's homepage for more stories. </a></strong></li></ul><p>America is no longer the most competitive <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword> in the world. Instead, it's Singapore leading the way.</p><p>That's according to the World Economic Forum, which has been assessing competitiveness for the last 40 years. </p><p>In a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-competitiveness-report-2019-searching-for-the-win-win-policy-space">666-page report</a> released on Wednesday, the WEF assessed 141 countries around the world on how competitive they are. It uses 114 indicators looking at how institutions, policy and other factors influence levels of productivity in a country. </p><p>The US came 2nd, Japan was 6th, Germany was 7th and the UK came in in 9th place, while Argentina came 83rd. </p><p>Singapore was an unlikely beneficiary of Trump's trade war against China, the WEF said. The country leapfrogged the US from second to first, as it had benefitted "from global trade tensions through trade diversion," as had Vietnam, which the WEF found was the most improved country in its rankings.</p><p>The US has been hurt by the turmoil, with the WEF saying: "Escalating trade and geopolitical tensions are fuelling uncertainty, which holds back investments, and increase the risk of supply shocks - disruptions to global supply chains or sudden price spikes or interruptions in the availability of key resources."</p><p>"The world is at a social, environmental and economic tipping point," the report said adding that "subdued growth, rising inequalities, and accelerating climate change provide the context for a backlash against capitalism, globalization, technology, and elites."</p><p>The Asia Pacific region took the crown for the world's most competitive region, the WEF said. </p><p>South-East Asia has had large amounts of trade running through the area, as Chinese exporters have found ways of re-routing products to the US via <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/8-asian-countries-that-could-benefit-us-china-trade-war-2019-8-1028481289">countries like Vietnam and Singapore</a>. </p><p>The WEF report focused upon the fact low productivity has plagued the global economy since the financial crash - despite its calculations of a $10 trillion cash injection from central banks. </p><p>The WEF also criticized governments or not implementing fiscal policy to drive growth.</p><p>"While the $10 trillion injection by central banks is unprecedented, and has succeeded in averting a deeper recession, it is not enough to catalyze the allocation of resources towards productivity enhancing investments in the private and public sectors," the WEF said. </p><p>It added: "As monetary policies begin to run out of steam, it is crucial for economies to rely on fiscal policy and public incentives to boost research and development, enhance the skills base of the current and future workforce, develop new infrastructure, and integrate new technologies."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>World Economic Forum</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/10-up-and-coming-fintechs-2019?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=finance&amp;itm_campaign=10-up-and-coming-fintechs-2019"></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-biggest-secrets-mob-football-2016-1">5 things about the NFL that football fans may not know</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Trump's trade war means America lost the top spot as the world's most competitive country

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Lionsgate Films</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Britain's exit from the European Union - Brexit - could undo all the progress it has made becoming one of the <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/wef-global-competitiveness-report-most-competitive-countries-in-the-world-2016-9">world's most competitive countries</a>, according to the World Economic Forum. </p><p>Every year the WEF's benchmark <span>Global Competitiveness Report ranks countries on how competitive their economies are. </span></p><p>WEF looks at data on areas as varied as the soundness of banks to the sophistication of businesses in each country to compile a picture of the economy.</p><p><span>Countries were ranked according to the "12 pillars of competitiveness," which includes macro-economic environment, infrastructure, health and primary education, and labour market efficiency.</span></p><p><span>For the year </span><span>2016-2017, </span>the prestigious institution outlined how the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> has risen up the overall <span>Global Competitiveness Index <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/wef-global-competitiveness-report-most-competitive-countries-in-the-world-2016-9">by three positions hitting 7th place</a>. </span></p><p><span>However, it warned that Britain's score was calculated based on pre-Brexit data and therefore the true effects from Britain leaving the EU have not been taken into consideration.</span></p><p><span>"Our <span>analysis suggests there is more downside risk from Brexit than there is upside when it comes to the competitiveness of the UK economy," said WEF in a statement sent to Business Insider. </span></span></p><p><span>Britain voted to leave the EU on June 23. Since then, the Sterling has hit 30-year lows, the Bank of England has implemented a range of stimulus measures including lowering rates to 0.25% to encourage spending and borrowing, and a number of agencies have revised down UK GDP projections.</span></p><p>WEF said there are three uncertain areas for Britain that could affect the economy's competitiveness. "We regard these as uncertain because the<span> direct impact could either be negative or positive</span>:" <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>World Economic Forum</span></p><p class="caption">This the UK's performance, according to the WEF report. However, the data was collected before the Brexit vote in June.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>1. Effectiveness of anti-monopoly policy</strong><span><strong> -</strong>  WEF points out that the "</span><span>UK already has an effective anti-trust regime, although so does the EU, so any impact is likely to be quite small." Only time will tell if Britain can successfully forge ahead with this without the help of the EU.<u></u></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><strong>2. </strong><span><strong>Agricultural policy costs -</strong> Some <span>40% of the EU budget, worth €58 billion (£50.3 billion, $65.2 billion) a year, is spent on the agricultural policy. </span></span></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span><span>WEF said that i</span>f the UK leaves the EU, "<span>on paper it [looks like it] could be a big saving" for Britain because it would not have to contribute to the EU budget. </span></span></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span><span>However, it warned that "the UK government has said it will match the subsidies," meaning that if UK farmers receive a subsidy from a collective fund from the EU, the UK will now have to stump up the costs itself, without any outside help.</span></span></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span><strong>3. Exports -</strong> This is perhaps the most uncertain of all the fields as the UK has yet to trigger Article 50. No one has any idea what a Brexit will look like and what impact this will have on trade rates and laws.</span></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span>WEF notes that "it is </span></span><span>very hard to say" what the overall impact would be. "</span><span>Brexit may have the effect of reducing exports if access to traditional export markets becomes harder, however the depreciation of the pound serves as an automatic stabilizer that may help counterbalance this effect," it added.</span></p><p>And these factors aren't the only ones that adding to the uncertainty. WEF said that "given that the pillars are interconnected, this analysis misses out on the indirect effects, which can be substantial."</p><p>"Brexit poses a considerable risk to the UK's competitiveness: of the 112 indicators that make up a country's competitiveness profile, we identify 14 that could be directly negatively impacted by Brexit and only 2 that could be directly positively impacted," said WEF in a statement.</p><p>"We identify three other indicators where Brexit could have uncertain direct impact. Of the 14 indicators that could have a direct negative impact, the UK tends to do better currently than either Norway or Switzerland," the group said.</p>     <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tallest-residential-skyscraper-europe-spire-london-2016-9">London is building Europe's tallest residential skyscraper</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="9oeTFyNTE6xqXGiBDzbk2RfXs0j778Fd" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The UK is risking everything with Brexit

<p>In the span of 20 minutes, <keyword id="131800" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nouriel-Roubini">Nouriel Roubini</keyword> has tweeted three times that he's at #1 on the Davos Twitter board.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>I am #1 in the <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23wef">#wef</a> Twitter Board in @<a href="https://twitter.com/davos">davos</a> <a href="http://t.co/JcheQNq8" title="http://twitter.com/Nouriel/status/294476350104940544/photo/1">twitter.com/Nouriel/status…</a></p>
— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nouriel/status/294476350104940544">January 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23WEF">#WEF</a> Twitter Board <a href="http://t.co/1yGhcfvF" title="http://twitter.com/Nouriel/status/294476756302323712/photo/1">twitter.com/Nouriel/status…</a></p>
— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nouriel/status/294476756302323712">January 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23wef">#wef</a> Twitter Board. Yours truly is #1 in Most Active rank and #2 in Most Retweets rank <a href="http://t.co/Optqse3L" title="http://twitter.com/Nouriel/status/294481059461099521/photo/1">twitter.com/Nouriel/status…</a></p>
— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nouriel/status/294481059461099521">January 24, 2013</a></blockquote>

Nouriel Roubini Tweets Three Times In 20 Minutes That He's Crushing It On The Davos Twitter Leader Board

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk posted a link to Argentine president Javier Milei's World Economic Forum speech on X.</li><li>Musk also used his Grok AI to "roast" WEF chief Klaus Schwab in his annual potshot at the Davos event.</li></ul><p>The World Economic Forum in Davos is in full swing, but one of the great and good is not in Switzerland this week: Elon Musk.</p><p>The Tesla CEO used his AI chatbot, Grok, to take his annual shot at the gathering of business and political leaders in the World Economic Forum conference in Switzerland by "roasting" WEF chief Klaus Schwab <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1747870851138019445"><u>in a post on X</u></a>.</p><p>However, Musk was full of <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1747865288429682866"><u>praise for one Davos attendee</u></a>: Argentine president Javier Milei. He said in an X post that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/world/americas/argentina-election-javier-milei.html"><u>dog-cloner's</u></a> speech was a "good explanation of what makes countries more or less prosperous."</p><p>In his first address on the global stage after his shock victory in November, Milei claimed the developed world was under threat because those "supposed to defend the values of the west have been co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism, and therefore to poverty," he said Wednesday.</p><p>Musk has previously expressed his admiration for Milei, who's  embarked upon a radical program of economic transformation while also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/argentina-new-government-threatens-protesters-welfare-cuts-milei-buenos-aires-2023-12">clamping down on public protests.</a></p><p>The billionaire <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1726377537259925795">wrote on X</a> that "prosperity is ahead for Argentina" after the self-professed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/world/americas/argentina-javier-milei-cuts.html">"anarcho-capitalist"</a> was elected.</p><h2>'Evil plan'</h2><p>Grok, which Musk has said was designed to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ai-chatbot-grok-sounds-like-foul-mouthed-troll-2023-11"><u>have a "rebellious streak" and give satirical answers</u></a>, described Schwab as a "walking, talking example of what happens when someone reads too many dystopian novels and starts to think they are a self-help guide."</p><p>The AI chatbot also made fun of Schwab's "Great Reset" initiative, unveiled by the World Economic Forum in 2020 and has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.isdglobal.org/explainers/the-great-reset/"><u>become a target for conspiracy theorists</u></a>, asking "who names their evil plan to take over the world after a Windows update?"</p><p>Musk has been a regular critic of Davos in the past, posting on X last year that <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1606559431881285632"><u>he had declined an invitation to attend</u></a>. However, organizers said he <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-declined-davos-organizers-says-he-wasnt-invited-2023-1">hadn't been invited since 2015</a>.</p><p>"We shouldn't be obsessed with WEF/Davos, but they take themselves sooo seriously that making fun of them is awesome," Musk said on <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1615184768123146240"><u>X</u></a> last January.</p><p>He's also spread some conspiracy theories associated with the WEF and the "Great Reset" — a pandemic recovery plan <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-57532368"><u>proposed by Schwab and the Prince of Wales in 2020</u></a>.</p><p>It received <a target="_blank" href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/conspiracy-theories-aside-there-something-fishy-about-great-reset/"><u>plenty of legitimate criticism</u></a>, but also sparked conspiracy theories that believe it is a sinister plan by elites to use the Covid-19 pandemic to control the world.</p><p>Musk <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1615751952465563650"><u>railed against the WEF</u></a> as becoming "an unelected world government" and <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1615195812388274177"><u>"trying to be the boss of Earth"</u></a> in X posts last year.</p><p>Comments under his X post "roasting" Schwab also featured <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/CryptoYapper/status/1747871780323131616"><u>several posts</u></a> alluding to <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/euphorio_/status/1747874856816037992"><u>conspiracy theories</u></a> surrounding the WEF.</p><p>The World Economic Forum did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.</p>

Elon Musk praises Javier Milei's World Economic Forum speech — and gets his Grok AI to make his annual dig at Davos

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="WEF/F. Alvaredo, A. B. Atkinson, T. Piketty and E. Saez, 2013. 'The World Top Incomes Database" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54610c556bb3f7666e266332-960/cd-3.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://reports.weforum.org/outlook-global-agenda-2015/top-10-trends-of-2015/1-deepening-income-inequality/">WEF/F. Alvaredo, A. B. Atkinson, T. Piketty and E. Saez, 2013. 'The World Top Incomes Database</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The World Economic Forum is out with its new <a href="http://reports.weforum.org/outlook-global-agenda-2015/top-10-trends-of-2015/1-deepening-income-inequality/">Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015</a>.</p>
<p>Deepening income inequality tops the list of economic trends to watch, as chosen by WEF's survey respondents (about 1,750 people from a network of "<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">members and alumni of the Global </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Agenda Councils, as well as Young </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Global Leaders and Global Shapers").</span></p>
<p>The US tops the list of most unequal of the world's rich nations, and has surged ahead of the rest mostly in the last 30 years (see the above chart). However, the survey respondents don't think that North America will be the most affected by deepening inequality over the next year. That honor goes to Asia:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div><p></p></div> What should be done about inequality? The report doesn't get into specifics, but it does say this: <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"We know what we need: inclusive economies in which men and women have access to decent employment, legal identification, financial services, infrastructure and social protection, as well as societies where all people can contribute and participate in global, national and local governance."</span></p>
<p>Here are the rest of the top trends: </p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="WEF" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54610bd46bb3f7f26d266332-960/cd-26.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>WEF</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>Of note, last year's #1 trend, "rising societal tensions in the Middle East and North Africa" has completely dropped off the list (or, debatably, has been folded into this year's #8, "intensifying nationalism.")</p>

You Searched For "WEF" and got 13 results

Global economic slowdown headed for worst phase in three decades: WEF study

PTI

Elon Musk says he isn't at Davos because it's 'boring af.' Organizers say they haven't invited him since 2015.

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WEF: Blockchain will become the 'beating heart' of finance

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India rises to rank 39th on WEF's Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024, becomes highest ranked South Asian nation

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The World Economic Forum Names The 10 Biggest Threats On Earth

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WEF suggests tech tools for fair and inclusive workplaces in post-COVID-19 world

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Closing the global gender gap will take an extra 36 years due to the impact of the pandemic, the World Economic Forum said

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US labor secretary says he wants more women to be CEOs and board members so the gender pay gap can immediately close

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Trump's trade war means America lost the top spot as the world's most competitive country

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The UK is risking everything with Brexit

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Nouriel Roubini Tweets Three Times In 20 Minutes That He's Crushing It On The Davos Twitter Leader Board

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Elon Musk praises Javier Milei's World Economic Forum speech — and gets his Grok AI to make his annual dig at Davos

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This Is The No.1 Economic Trend To Watch Going Into 2015

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