A Swiss national flag outside the Congress Center ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 15 to 19. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Another major issue to be discussed this week is the state of world debt. Global government debt is projected to hit $97.1 trillion this year, a 40% increase since 2019. One has to assume that many of the central bankers present in Davos are there to borrow to prevent their economies going into default. Combined world debt (private, public and otherwise) is at a staggering $300 trillion and will not be going away in the next 50 years. To find opportunities for capital expenditure, economic growth and the fostering of an investment climate in this morass is not going to be easy. The mere presence of a world debt almost the size of possible maximum world economic output is cause for paranoia and fear. But in the words of Jeff Bezos of Amazon, there is nothing like paranoia and fear to drive innovation.