Davos Newbies Home

Seasonal break 

I anticipate doing somewhere between little and no writing until 30 December at best. The next week for me is unadulterated time spent with my family. If the computer gets switched on, it will be because the children are playing games, not me checking email or writing Davos Newbies.

Happy holidays to all my readers.

Krugman’s Christmas message 

Merry Christmas from Paul Krugman: “It may be that the bad few weeks the administration has just had were the result of random events. But I think the public is finally waking up to the fact that the people in the White House know a lot about gaining power, but not much about what to do with it.”

Nestle reconsiders 

Nestle is rowing fiercely against the current to repair the damage caused by the revelation of their heinous dispute with Ethiopia. It’s definitely a step forward that they are saying they will invest any compensation in Ethiopia, but they are going to have to abandon the suit entirely.

What I found most interesting about The Guardian article is the sophistication of the Oxfam response. “Boycotting Nestle products won’t help the poor farmers who sell to the company,” said Justin Forsyth, head of policy at Oxfam. “What people should do if they want to help is to write or email Nestle and ask them to drop the claim.” That demonstrates to me what effective NGOs should be doing.

Changing shapes 

Here’s some research that’s easy to mock: “A comprehensive analysis of Playboy magazine centrefolds over the past 50 years shows the models have become more androgynous.”

I had a wonderful teacher at university who was a Miltonist. He had an extraordinary collection of Paradise Lost editions, and I particularly remember one that had a picture of Eve on the fore-edge. So, depending on how you shifted the pages of the book, you could choose a thin Eve or a Rubenesque Eve. The ideal woman no matter how taste shifted over the ages.

One thought on “Davos Newbies Home

  1. phil jones

    But why should multinationals fear bad publicity *unless* ultimately it’s backed up by threat of a boycott?

    Boycotting is a complex issue, but it’s still the only real lever we have against insanity like Nestle’s.

    Reply

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