Reconsider the way out

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum opened yesterday in Davos, Switzerland, amid high hopes of a lasting global recovery despite its tepidness.

It is no surprise that this latest optimism contrasts sharply with the prevailing panic that was highlighted by the unusual absence of many top Western bankers from last year's gathering of global decision-makers.

At that time, the world economy was right in the thick of the worst global recession in decades and a large number of financial giants in developed countries found themselves on taxpayer-paid life support.