Davos 2012

The biggest risk brought on by the euro debt crisis is "Balkanization" – the fragmentation of economic interests according to narrow, mainly national criteria, UK Chancellor George Osborne told CNBC Friday.

During Europe's financial crisis the European Central Bank has been "an anchor of stability and confidence," former president Jean-Claude Trichet said.

The euro has fundamental flaws, with no room for flexibility and Europe needs to move towards a political union as the euro cannot survive in its current format, Dr Gerard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered told CNBC on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Despite natural gas prices falling to near 10-year lows last week, Shell's CEO Peter Voser says demand for gas will be much higher than oil in the long term with the Asia-Pacific region driving the sector's growth.

Volatility has become a way of life, but people still have to eat. That's why sales at Dupont's agricultural businesses, including seed and insecticide, have been strong, according to CEO Ellen Kullman.

Proposals for a tax on financial transactions in the euro zone will become reality, Wolfgang Schaueble, Germany’s finance minister, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos Friday.

The decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve earlier this week to keep interest rates near zero through 2014, is going to likely have an impact on industries like insurance that depend on investment income.

The European Union's Commissioner for Competition dismissed criticism that moves to block the merger between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse were indicative of a Europe-wide problem of being too difficult on regulation.

Young people should work for free for up to two years to gain experience, youth and business leaders said at the World Economic Forum in Davos Thursday.

There is still “a lot of money” left in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the fund set up to bail out struggling euro zone countries, Klaus Regling, chief executive of the fund, told CNBC Thursday.

The newly-elected Islamist governments in countries such as Egypt need to address urgent economic issues such as unemployment ahead of religious concerns, political leaders and religious experts said at the World Economic Forum Thursday.

The impact of a Greek default on American banks would be negligible, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC on Thursday, and while there are chances of a bad outcome in Europe, he is not concerned about unpleasant surprises in the region.

The Internet is more resilient to the economic downturn than other industries, Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google told CNBC in Davos on Thursday, and it will continue to create opportunities for “alarmingly interesting” things1st paragraph of story should go here

It is “inevitable” that Facebook will go public and when it does it could be “the largest offering in history,” said Sean Parker, the first president of the social-networking site, in an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Michael Fries, chief executive of cable operator Liberty Global sits down with CNBC to discuss its growth strategy.

It might sound heretical for a leader of a communications firm to suggest it, but lately I’ve been thinking that a lot of big brands and companies should take a vow of silence.

Investors underestimate just how positive an effect the ECB's move to flush the market with liquidity has had on banks, Huw van Steenis, head of EMEA banks and financials research at Morgan Stanley, said.

The Federal Reserve’s announcement on interest rates was welcomed by business leaders in Davos Thursday morning – but there is still nervousness about the future of the US economy.

Austerity alone does not deliver the rewards it is meant to and the threats of stunted economic growth and recession remain high in the euro zone, Stephen King, global chief economist at HSBC told CNBC.

Loose monetary policy in both the U.S. and Europe has kept global equity markets on “life support,” says Bill Browder, CEO of London-based hedge fund Hermitage Capital.

Growth in Central and Eastern Europe hinges on developments in the euro zone and a slowdown in the CEE region is already underway, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) chief economist Erik Berglof told CNBC on Wednesday.

Europe needs "massive monetary easing" to get out of its debt crisis, otherwise Greece will likely abandon the euro in a year and a half, famous economist Nouriel Roubini told CNBC on Wednesday. 

Consumer demand for media technology is strong, and small- and medium-sized businesses will be a growth area for media technology in the next few years, the chairman and CEO of Comcast told CNBC Thursday.

"The year has started a little firmer," Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman told CNBC during the Davos World Economic Forum. "The U.S. is in a little better shape than the markets have appreciated, and the markets are catching up."

"The old, hierarchical command-and-control approach is increasingly outdated. Instead, the ability to seek out diverse viewpoints and identify blind spots has become essential," writes Beth Brooke, Global Vice Chair, Public Policy at Ernst & Young.

The euro zone is nowhere near finding a solution to the debt crisis plaguing it and needs deep restructuring as well as a new constitution as part of an effective long-term remedy as printing money will not solve its problems, Kenneth Rogoff, Professor at Harvard University told CNBC on Wednesday.

Even though falling solar panel prices led to a plunge in solar stocks in 2011, the CEO of U.S.-listed Suntech, the world's largest producer of panels, remains upbeat on the sector, saying it is has now become competitive vis-à-vis other energy sources.

TK Kurien, tells CNBC that his Bangalore-based IT services firm will  benefit in a challenging environment as its clients look to cut costs and squeeze out growth.

Uncertainty and volatility will likely be the two words we will hear most during the first two days in Davos — uncertainty about economic growth rates, particularly in Europe, and volatility in commodity prices driven by continuing demand in emerging markets and possible political disruptions around the world.

The mood among chief executives of the world’s biggest companies has gotten worse, but the outlook for jobs may be improving, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Although private equity is part of the larger capital markets that have driven growth and job creation in America, Glenn Hutchins, Silver Lake co-founder and co-CEO, tells  CNBC that private equity gets a bad rap.

More than 40 years since the World Economic Forum (WEF) began as the rather less-impressive sounding European Management Forum, political leaders, chief executives of the world’s biggest banks, royalty, actors and pop stars will converge on the small Swiss ski resort of Davos next week.

Europe’s banking system is on the brink — and Wall Street is its bedfellow.  So what does Wall Street want out of Europe's most elite economic confab? Skiing, distressed debt deals, and above all: solvency.

Food prices and security, threatened by weather-caused production declines and relentless rising demand, will be a key issue at the conference of world business, political and social leaders.

As investors and consumers watch them more closely, corporations are growing more conscious of their environmental and social behavior.

The annual meeting of the world's power brokers in Switzerland tackles some big subjects and attracts a lot of media attention but so what?