If there is one word that encapsulated the mood at Davos this year, it is uncertainty. At one event, when asked to describe how his fellow executives were feeling, a glum senior City figure simply replied "despondent". According to Meg Whitman, boss of Hewlett Packard, there had never been anything like the current climate before. "The chickens have come home to roost," she said. Another talked about "a shock to the system".
Everywhere you went, from the various halls of the main congress centre to the cocktail bars, hotels, and evening parties, the biggest names in business fretted about what lies ahead.
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Suddenly unsure of their place in the world and the prospects for their companies, many, it seemed, had come to Switzerland seeking reassurance from only those that could provide it - the current crop of world leaders.
Perhaps most striking was an almost universal acknowledgement that the system of the last few decades - democracy and globalisation - had failed millions of people around the world.
For a place that has come to symbolise the money-making animal spirits of the elite, there was a sense of atonement, reconciliation and redemption, of a community bowed by recent events. Time and again, bosses spoke of the need to make the world more inclusive. Even Christine Lagarde acknowledged that the IMF may not have always got it right.
The Trump shadow
But most of all there was grave uncertainty, particularly when it comes to the new leader of the free world.
There are obvious reasons for this; the new American president is wildly unpredictable. His use of Twitter to issue rebukes to multinationals deemed to be breaking the rules drives genuine fear into the heart of chief executives, while threats to tear up free trade deals and impose tariffs on China terrify fellow heads of state.
Trump is also beset by huge contradictions that make it hard to guess which direction his policies may take. Having assembled a vast multi-billion-dollar business empire through decades of deal-making and with the financial backing of Wall Street, the new president swept to power with anti-globalisation rhetoric and condemnation of big business. No wonder a palpable nervousness hung in the Davos mountain air.
![The IMF's Christine Lagarde raised globalisation concerns in her speech.](/web/20170124130250im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/u/6/f/y/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtwket.png/1485122389244.jpg)
Having chosen to stay away, Trump's shadow still loomed large over proceedings, leaving those in attendance to debate what lies in store.
It wasn't all doom and gloom. Trump's key policy pillars of tax reform, infrastructure investment and regulatory reform mean many are genuinely hopeful. Mary Callahan Erdoes, the boss of JP Morgan, predicted that President Trump would herald a new era of economic growth. Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osario predicted a revival of the banking industry.
![The US President has the business world uncertain about the future.](/web/20170124130250im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/v/y/9/e/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtwket.png/1485222439580.jpg)
Trump's decision to send adviser Anthony Scaramucci to Davos suggested that the new administration was at least prepared to listen to delegates, even if it ultimately chooses not to follow their advice. Attendees also pointed to the arch-capitalists in Team Trump such as former ExxonMobil boss Rex Tillerson and industrialist Wilbur Ross as evidence that there will be no damaging crusade against big business.
May impresses
There is also increasing optimism over what the British Prime Minister means for business prospects. Davos welcomed both speeches Theresa May delivered last week, the first for setting out a clear path to leaving the EU and the second for unveiling a bold vision of a post-Brexit Britain that helped reassure leaders that the country would remain open for business.
After her initial hostility on winning the leadership contest, much of what she said seemed to have a soothing effect. Yet, there is still a definite sense that the relationship May has with business is an uneasy one. Her decision to meet with Wall Street bosses but not to attend the Chancellor's speech later in the day seemed like a measured snub and her refusal to consider a special Brexit deal for the City alarms many.
Others question whether there is an inherent contradiction in May's claim to back business and free trade while at the same time advocating a more interventionist approach. Philip Hammond seemed aware of the ongoing tension when he thanked business for its commitment and pledged to work together.
It seemed fitting then that America's 45th chief of state preached in his inauguration about "protection" leading "to great prosperity and strength". Such ambiguous words left the Davos masses to jet home feeling even more uncertain about the new world order.
Telegraph, LondonÂ