Jan 27, 2018

Techlash takes over Davos

Axios

Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / Getty Images

"Davos 2018 has emerged as a bastion for anti-Silicon Valley sentiment," writes Vanity Fair's Maya Kosoff:

Key figures: George Soros compared Google and Facebook to mining and oil companies, saying that both “earn their profits by exploiting their environment... Salesforce C.E.O. Marc Benioff said on Tuesday that Facebook should be regulated like a cigarette company. ... Theresa May ... urged them to take responsibility for 'harmful and illegal' activity online."

Zeitgeist ... "Warnings of complacency made by some as crisis memory endures," per Bloomberg:

  • "[T]he giddiness ... gave some investors pause as they warned against turning too exuberant."
  • David Rubenstein, who co-founded the Carlyle Group: “The biggest concern I have is that most people think there’s no problem of a likely recession this year or early next year ... Generally, when people are happy and confident, something wrong happens.’’

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The novel coronavirus has spread from China to infect people in more than 40 countries and territories around the world, killing over 2,700 people.

The big picture: Most of the 80,000 COVID-19 infections have occurred in mainland China. But cases are starting to surge elsewhere. By Wednesday morning, the worst affected countries outside China were South Korea (1,146), where a U.S. soldier tested positive to the virus, Italy (332), Japan (170), Iran (95) and Singapore (91). Just Tuesday, new cases were confirmed in Switzerland, Croatia and Algeria.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders wanted to keep his momentum after winning contests in New Hampshire and Nevada, while former Vice President Joe Biden hoped to keep his own campaign alive. The other five candidates were just trying to hang on.

What's happening: Seven contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination were in Charleston, South Carolina, for the tenth debate, just days before the South Carolina primary and a week before Super Tuesday. They spoke, sometimes over each other, about health care, Russian interference in the election, foreign policy the economy, gun control, marijuana, education, and race.

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4 takeaways from the South Carolina debate

Former Vice President Joe Biden, right, makes a point during Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders listens. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

The 10th Democratic debate was billed as the most consequential of the primary thus far, but Tuesday night's high-stakes affair was at times awkward and unfocused as moderators struggled to rein in candidates desperate to make one last splash before Saturday's primary in South Carolina and Super Tuesday.

The big picture: After cementing himself as the Democratic favorite with a sweeping win in Nevada, Sen. Bernie Sanders came under fire as the front-runner for the first time on the debate stage. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who will be on the ballot for the first time next Tuesday, was a progressive foil once again, but he appeared more prepared after taking a drubbing at the Nevada debate.

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