by Jeff Heilman
No, not a Dutch law firm, but more troubling economic news.
What to expect at the World Economic Forum starting tomorrow in Davos, Switzerland?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will not be present, but Microsoft's Bill Gates, Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, KKR's Henry Kravis and Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein are there, along with several Middle East sheiks representing sovereign wealth funds. Much more to follow, including the CEO perspective.
The blogosphere is astir over the invitation to Davos of two inveterate global economic doomsayers. The New York Times in particular takes a disdainful knock against Stephen Roach, formerly Morgan Stanley’s chief economist and now chairman of its Asia operations, and New York University professor Nouriel Roubini. Chides the Times: “If you predict disaster for long enough, the odds are that it will eventually come to pass, and make you look like a seer.”
Roach and Roubini are hardly unjustified, though. On U.S. fears, the Asian and European markets yesterday suffered some of their worst losses since September 2001. Even optimists like Spain's economy minister Pedro Solbes are concerned: “We are worried in the sense that we have to follow every hour.” As the Times also reports: “Now, the focus has jumped to recession--and the conviction that the United States...has become embedded in investor psychology around the world.”
Analysts are not necessarily gloomy about Yahoo!, but they are getting impatient for executive action to boost sagging value and sharpen focus at the web portal giant. CEO Jerry Yang wants Yahoo! to be the starting point for most consumers on the Web; the end point may be close for hundreds of employees, with the possibility of layoffs reported yesterday.