|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes From Davos; Trump’s Realpolitik; Americans Bear Bulk of U.S. Tariff Costs
|
|
By Walden Siew | WSJ Leadership Institute
|
|
|
|
|
Latest highlights from the World Economic Forum in Davos; Americans are bearing the bulk of the U.S. tariff costs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
National flags of countries participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 19. KRISZTIAN BOCSI/BLOOMBERG NEWS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good morning, CFOs. Join us this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, for insights CFOs and other executives will need to lead through 2026. Alan Murray, president of the WSJ Leadership Institute, will be on the ground all week from Davos, where world and corporate leaders are gathered.
We have interviews scheduled with the CEOs of Mastercard, Qualcomm, BNY, Baker Hughes, TIAA, Uber, HPE, Salesforce, Anthropic, Bank of America and many others. Here are some of the highlights so far, starting with Mastercard’s CEO Michael Miebach:
On the U.S. economy and consumer:
2025 “feels in the distant past somehow,” Miebach told the WSJ Leadership Institute’s Murray. “But if I just took a look back and then look forward into 2026 what we're seeing is an economy that, despite everything that's going on, has adjusted remarkably well. You see resilience here.”
Investment in technology and AI has been a big trend, he said. “And the second thing is really the health of the consumer and the health of the household balance sheets. And that is globally true. That happens in Europe. It happened in the United States. So we see a fairly healthy consumer.”
On AI and cybersecurity:
“AI is enabling the good guys, and it's enabling the bad guys. So for us as a company, massive investments into cyber security, $11 billion since 2018 that we put into this generative AI as of late, the last two, three years, is helping us to ensure that we detect threat signals that are out there somewhere in our digital world.”
For other interviews from Davos, watch our Davos CEO Brief 2026 and our following interviews:
Dive deeper:
|
|
|
|
|
Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
|
|
|
At Regeneron, Elevating Global Procurement to Enterprise Partner
|
|
Matthew Everett is building his procurement team to be strategic business partners who can help enable Regeneron’s growth and competitive objectives by accelerating process efficiencies and driving innovation. Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Monday
Equity and fixed-income markets are closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The World Economic Forum’s 56th annual meeting kicks off in Davos, Switzerland, and runs through Friday. The theme this year is “A Spirit of Dialogue.” President Donald Trump is expected to lead the largest ever U.S. contingent to Davos.
Tuesday
Earnings: 3M, D.R. Horton, Fastenal, Fifth Third Bancorp, Interactive Brokers Group, KeyCorp, Netflix, United Airlines Holdings and U.S. Bancorp
Wednesday
Earnings: Charles Schwab, Citizens Financial Group, Halliburton, Johnson & Johnson, Kinder Morgan, Prologis, TE Connectivity, Teledyne Technologies and Travelers
The National Association of Realtors releases its Pending Home Sales Index for December.
Thursday
Earnings: Abbott Laboratories, Alcoa, Capital One Financial, CSX, Freeport-McMoRan, GE Aerospace, Huntington Bancshares, Intel, Intuitive Surgical, McCormick, Northern Trust and Procter & Gamble
The Bureau of Economic Analysis releases the personal consumption expenditures price index for October and November.
The BEA releases its final estimate of third-quarter gross-domestic-product growth.
Friday
Earnings: Booz Allen Hamilton Holding, Comerica and First Citizens BancShares
S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for January.
|
|
|
|
|
|
What Else Matters to CFOs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. tariffs functioned as a consumption tax on Americans, the report said. ANGELINA KATSANIS/REUTERS
|
|
|
|
|
|
One of the biggest disruptive forces last year was Trump’s global tariff policy, launched during the so-called liberation day, and the latest research shows that Americans, not foreigners, are bearing almost the entire cost of U.S. tariffs.
The new research by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a well-regarded German think tank, suggests that the impact of tariffs is likely to show up over time in the form of higher U.S. consumer prices. The new research runs counter to a key claim by President Trump and suggests he might have a weaker hand in a reemerging trade war with Europe.
Context and background: Trump has repeatedly claimed that his historic tariffs, deployed aggressively over the past year as both a revenue-raising and foreign-policy tool, will be paid for by foreigners. Such assertions helped to reinforce the president’s bargaining power and encourage foreign governments to do deals with the U.S.
Trump’s claims have been supported by the resilience of the U.S. economy, which recorded relatively brisk growth and moderate inflation last year, even as growth in Europe and other advanced economies remained sluggish.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Donald Trump has destroyed Western cohesion.”
|
|
—Carlo Calenda, a centrist Italian senator and longtime Atlanticist who now argues the Trump administration is a threat to Europe’s democracies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy. Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal Team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew. You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
