The Editor's Post: Stakeholder capitalism turns outlaw as Sheriff Trump comes to Davos

As Donald Trump strode, behind schedule, into Davos this week, it felt as though most of Europe was holding its breath, waiting to discover what the most powerful man in the world would do about Greenland. 

He was accompanied by, it is reported, the largest US World Economic Forum delegation to date, making the point that they were there to shake up the established world order. As US secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick put it in the FT: “We’re not going to Davos to uphold the status quo. We’re going to confront it head-on.” 

The impact community has become used to seeing the annual meeting of global leaders in the Swiss ski resort – whatever they might feel about its elitism – as a space where ideas around sustainability and mission-driven business are given significant airtime.

In 2020, a particularly stand-out year, WEF founder Klaus Schwab’s “Davos Manifesto” flagged “stakeholder capitalism” as the model to adopt to combat the world’s social and environmental challenges.

But after accusations of financial misconduct, which he denies, Klaus Schwab stepped down as chair; now he’s a ghost of a different time. And, according to Lutnick, “with President Trump, capitalism has a new sheriff in town”.

While this year’s programme featured sessions on nature-based solutions, building prosperity within planetary boundaries, fair workplaces, and more (which we’ll be reporting upon next week), the spotlight was firmly on Donald Trump and his seismic impact on longstanding global institutions and methods of negotiation.

But for those mourning the certainties of the past, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, had some sharp words.

“Nostalgia is not a strategy,” he said. The former “rockstar banker”, an ex governor of the Bank of England who was later a UN special envoy for climate action and finance, and a cheerleader for impact investing, received a standing ovation for his Davos speech. “The old order is not coming back,” he said.

While countries like Canada prospered within the previous global structures, which provided global security, dispute resolution and a stable financial system, we were in the middle of a “rupture”, he said. Now that economic integration was a source of subordination.

Providing the most notable counterpoint to Trump’s bombast, Carney laid out a path that many may want – or hope – to follow. Appealing to what he termed the “middle powers”, such as his own, he said: “We believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.”

And he urged these countries to not build more walls between themselves, but unite.
“The middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” he said.

“We should not allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong – if we choose to wield it together.” 

Carney’s words went down well with many, but we must also listen to the voices from the global south, which are rarely given air time at events such as Davos. As many have pointed out elsewhere, economic integration was always a source of subordination for countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Abbi Kanthasamy had a message for Carney in the Malay Mail yesterday: “Canada… must learn to listen before it leads, partner before it preaches, and treat the global south as a peer, not a proving ground. The rules-based order was never built for us. It cannot be rebuilt without us.”

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Top image: Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on 22 January 2026. Copyright: World Economic Forum / Thibaut Bouvier