Chicago Tribune | By Stevenson Swanson | January 31, 2002
In what is supposed to be a confidence-boosting show of support, nearly 3,000 A-list names from the worlds of business and government will wine, dine and swap business cards for five days starting Thursday as part of the annual World Economic Forum.
But while the rich and powerful consider such eyelid-lowering topics as "The Rationality of Decisions in Financial Markets," traffic in midtown Manhattan is expected to come to a stop because of security precautions. Demonstrators plan to mass on Park Avenue to protest globalization. With the potential for street violence like that which occurred during similar economic meetings in Seattle and Genoa, Italy, New York City's nerves are on edge again.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, organizers of several high-profile events have talked about coming to the city, including the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in 2004. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday that the city will pursue a bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
But the anxiety that the World Economic Forum has produced, to say nothing of the estimated $11 million in added security costs, has led some New Yorkers to wonder whether such events do more harm than good to a city trying to regain its emotional footing.
"I wish they would stay in Switzerland," said a saleswoman at Saks Fifth Avenue, referring to the fact that until this year the forum has been held in Davos, a ski resort in the Swiss Alps. "What's wrong with Davos? I hear it's very nice."
That's short-term thinking, say such leaders as Bloomberg, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki, who have barely stopped short of high-fiving each other in public for snagging an event that despite its prestige among bureaucrats and billionaires, most Americans have probably never heard of.
Benefits to Big Apple
"The World Economic Forum is going to be tremendously beneficial to the city," said Cristyne Nicholas, president of NYC & Co., the tourism and convention board, which also lobbied for the forum's one-year relocation from Davos.
The convention board estimates that participants will spend $13 million to $19 million in New York, not counting the $25,000 per person that forum organizers charge. Add such things as parties and shopping, and the forum could inject up to $100 million into the city's sagging economy.
"What we can't put a price tag on is how much it would cost to advertise in some 300 cities worldwide that New York is back in business," said Nicholas, citing a continuing absence of foreign tourists since Sept. 11. "That's priceless."
The 32-year-old economic forum is intended to bring together the world's deep thinkers and deep pockets to consider the broad challenges facing humankind. Reflecting the effect of Sept. 11, the forum, which is being held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, is to address such issues as reducing global poverty, pulling the world economy out of recession and fostering respect for cultural differences.
Complicated concerns
Participants, including AOL-TimeWarner Chairman Steve Case and Secretary of State Colin Powell, will ponder such matters as "Confronting Asymmetric Threats to Peace," but the forum also is known for its networking and socializing.
"It gives a systemic view of the whole world," said forum founder Klaus Schwab, a Swiss business professor.
By moving the meeting to New York, he said, "We could show the world that the people of New York are not scared."
Although the forum has no governmental or judicial powers, its recent meetings have attracted the same anti-globalization demonstrations that have disrupted meetings of the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the G-8 summit of industrial nations. Last year, Italian police killed a protester at the G-8 meeting in Genoa.
Protest organizers in New York say they are sensitive to the feelings of New Yorkers. Their protests, including two demonstrations scheduled for Saturday on Park Avenue, will be "legal and peaceful and, yes, spirited and militant," said Brian Becker, co-director of the International Action Center, which claims that the forum's corporate clubbiness promotes the enrichment of the few while impoverishing millions.
Skeptical evaluation
"The question is, Why is the [forum] coming to New York?" said Becker. "This is rank opportunism. They hope the political climate that came into being on Sept. 11 will prevent the kind of demonstrations they've seen in Europe."
Still, some protest groups have opted to bypass New York and attend the economic forum's anti-globalization counterpart, the World Social Forum, being held this weekend in Porto Alegre, Brazil.Chicago Tribune:
