Monday at Davos: Five Things You Need to Know

The global elite are descending on the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, and some good news from the International Monetary Fund has already arrived to meet them. But not everyone is sure the future looks so bright.

Just in time for opening day, the IMF said global growth will accelerate to its fastest pace in seven years as U.S. tax cuts spur investment. The fund raised its forecast for world expansion to 3.9 percent this year and next. That would be the fastest rate since 2011, when the world was bouncing back from the financial crisis. Cuts to the corporate tax rate in America will give the world’s biggest economy a shot in the arm, lifting U.S. growth to 2.7 percent this year, the IMF said Monday. Nevertheless, some Davos delegates are concerned that things look too good to be true. “We are complacent at this moment,” said Robert Shiller, a Nobel laureate from Yale University. Potential risks include China stumbling, a protectionist push, mounting debt and an inflation outbreak that forces central banks to raise interest rates quicker than anticipated.