Boo big business

Forget big business, this year politicians seem to have all the answers.
The forum in this Swiss Alpine hamlet is flooded every year with business leaders, and their solutions to all of life's ills. But this year, with a shattered world economy, the bailout and recovery plans of governments are drowning out the suggestions of CEOs and chairmen who've seen some of their credibility vanish.
"The number of VIP politicians is huge, and it's a lot less bankers this year," said Rainer Ohler, senior vice president of Airbus SA. "What you are missing really is the top shots in banking."
In years past, Davos was the place to see and be seen. Tycoons and captains of industry were the stars, and governments were told to stick to politics.
But, mindful of what News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch called the "$50 trillion of personal wealth" that has vanished since September, the focus has shifted.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Felipe Calderon are just some of the more than 40 heads of state in Davos this year.
They bring experience and - in some cases - political clout. Increasingly, they are also coming in charge of large parts of their national economies.
"We have learned from previous crises and this time, in several countries in Latin America, there is good news and very good opportunities," Calderon said Friday.
Brown said the idea was not to criticise or scorch individuals but noted that "we cannot reward or condone irresponsible and excessive risk taking." Instead, politicos are using the forum as a bully pulpit to call for international regulation.
"We need to have a clear compass of where we want to go, to avoid the same sort of crisis we had," Merkel said, adding that crisis management is not sufficient, action is.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the large numbers of political leaders "is a good thing ... for finding solutions to the economic crisis and for fostering ambitious climate policies."
His country will host a major U.N. climate meeting in December and he is using Davos to try "to convince people that there's no competition between ambitious climate policies and the resolution of the financial crisis."
However, Ohler said the traditional boundaries of governments have become blurred.
"There are certain areas where governments need to take action and there are certain areas where it's clearly the financial markets that should take care of things," he said. "Governments are not the answer. We all need to do our homework and take care of ourselves."
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said government action was crucial, but in cooperation with industry, too.
"It's not just giving away money and taking a risk on the taxpayers and giving all the good things that come out of that to the owners or to the ones in the highest position of the bank and financial sector," he said. "This is very important for the electorate to strike the right balance."
Indeed, the shame of the financial meltdown has shamed much of the business community.
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said this was unfair.
"There are two streets - 90 percent of Main Street businesses have got great value and are working just fine. It's the other street that is not," she said, referring to Wall Street.
Call it bad company, said Intel chairman Craig Barrett.
"I don't think the layman really differentiates between whether you're a manufacturing or services or financial CEO," he told The Associated Press. "There's guilt by association.”