Davos and the broken Western state model

We must fix the broken Western state model - Telegraph: "what the Davos crowd should be focused on, as boldly stated by Paul Polman, the chief executive of consumer goods giant Unilever, in his extraordinary recent interview with my colleague Kamal Ahmed. Governments need to get used to lower spending levels… individuals need to get used to lower pensions and welfare payments… and businesses need to get used to the costs that come with it and bear their part," said Polman. Leaders of huge conglomerates exercise extreme caution when making public statements. So when the likes of Polman start breaking ideological taboos, the Western political classes – still locked in their "growth versus austerity" neo-Keynesian parlour game – need to recognise that the game is up. "People are realising in the West that our model is not a sustainable model," Polman continued. "The dynamics have now completely shifted but politicians don't want to explain that to people… vested interests take too big a share of voice.""

Is Washington even listening?

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