MEDIA REACTION - DAVOS SUMMIT

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000090 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, WHA/EPSC STATE FOR INR/IAA, PM, INL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO ECON OPRC CI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - DAVOS SUMMIT ¶1. On January 30, Chile's conservative, influential newspaper-of-record "El Mercurio" (circ. 129,000) ran an editorial entitled, "Uncertainty in Davos." Quotes follow: ¶2. "In the traditional annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos last week... one element stood out as a common denominator in all the analysis: concern with the immediate future. The topic of interest among experts and market actors focused on the impact that this crisis will have on the level of economic activity in the United States.... ¶3. But the origin of the problem that is causing concern today differs from that of previous crises. We can add that the disparity in the strength of different groups of countries (Europe, Japan, China, and emerging economies, in general) is less than in past decades. Therefore, there is no concrete experience to predict the effects of this crisis. We will have to wait and see how events develop. From that viewpoint, the feeling of uncertainty before and after Davos is fully justified." SIMONS