Blinkers on at Davos

The meeting of top financiers and politicians at Davos this week was extraordinary for its optimism about the economic outlook, the few voices of reality being ignored or quickly forgotten.

The voices that did speak out, however, were those of experienced and knowledgeable men and women who see the present global situation, particularly to do with the Eurozone, with discernment, but also with different degrees of pessimism. Someone spoke of the crisis fatigue which has numbed the key European leaders into believing that the fact there is no current catastrophe means that all is well and business can continue as normal - many saying the worst is over. George Soros, however, one of the canniest financiers in the world, was among others who warned yesterday that the situation in Europe is so serious it could lead to the destruction of the European Union.

What is little talked about is what is occurring right now, for the concerns of the realists about the future have not addressed that change is under way already. It is significant, and hitherto unthinkable, that some banks and institutions are now valuing the Euro not as one currency but as a number of currencies within it, so, for example, a different rating is being given to the German denominated Euro compared to the Spanish Euro, a sign that the breakup of the Euro as one common currency in a large part of Europe has begun. Additionally, some banks in certain countries are so vulnerable to collapse they are unable to obtain funding in order to continue in business, they have been blacklisted.

It is a strange and fascinating situation, and I feel as if I am watching a group of high profile people with a great burden of responsibility upon them sleepwalking their way to precipitating global change through passivity and fear. They have chosen to be in this situation of power, as indeed have we too chosen our own place in this scenario.

What is important is how we, as individuals and as a community deal with the aftermath. It is our opportunity to create something new and sane, simple and useful, compassionate and workable, where the disempowered are re-empowered and the value placed on money is replaced by something longer-lasting and heartfelt. So, I am not among the pessimists at Davos but I hope I am a realist, and as such I embrace the changes which are inevitable, in the knowledge that they are indeed what we all have been waiting for.