Après-ski economics… World and biz leaders are meeting in the Swiss resort town of Davos this week — not to hit the slopes but to attend the 54th World Economic Forum. But what happens in Davos doesn’t stay in Davos: decision-makers hobnobbing over Dom Pérignon can influence global policy. About 2.5K people show up, flying in on ~1K private jets. On this year’s guest list: Argentina’s new president, Milei, France’s Macron, OpenAI CEO Altman, and Pfizer CEO Bourla. High on the agenda: AI, the climate crisis, and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
PAC it up…Yesterday’s Iowa caucuses kickstarted voting in the GOP presidential primaries (FYI: Dems vote by mail, with results coming in March). Being up first, Iowa has outsized influence on the race, which is reflected in ad budgets: $110M+ has been spent carpeting Iowa with GOP commercials — that’s 40% of total $$ spent on all GOP TV ads so far. Former Pres Trump is up in polls, while Nikki Haley’s up in marketing: the ex-gov has spent a race-leading $50M+ on TV ads. Buckle up: this election’s expected to be the costliest ever, with $10B+ in ad spend.