The hot ticket at Davos last year was the “dialogue in the dark” event, when delegates at the World Economic Forum were plunged into complete darkness to experience the loss of sight. This seems an apt metaphor for the blindness of the world’s elite to the fragility of the global financial system.

The business leaders and policymakers flocking to the Swiss mountain resort of Davos this week will share little of last year’s jubilation over the strength of the global economy and the prospects for companies. Though the conference is titled “the power of collaborative innovation”, it is bound to concentrate on fears of political and economic uncertainty.