🇺🇸 Meeting in the Mountains

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Good morning, and happy Friday! Military veterans and supporters will run, walk, ruck, push, and cycle to move a single American flag across the country as part of the Old Glory Relay. Here’s how to sign-up, volunteer, or donate.

Plus, win the morning, win the day. Here are 10 things you should do before 10 AM.

Also, for all of the finance folks in our audience, be sure to check out today’s sponsor Raging Bull, which aims to help you become a sharper, better-educated trader.

FLAG POLLS

🐘 January 18, 2023: 2024 Republican Presidential Nomination: Trump 44, DeSantis 32, Pence 5, Haley 4, Cruz 3, Cheney, Rubio, Pompeo, T. Scott, Hogan (Economist/YouGov)

🐎 January 18, 2023: General Election: Trump vs. Biden: Biden 46, Trump 42 (Economist/YouGov)

🟰 January 18, 2023: General Election: DeSantis vs. Biden: DeSantis 43, Biden 43 (Economist/YouGov)

📉 January 18, 2023: President Biden Job Approval: Approve 38, Disapprove 53 (Quinnipiac)

TRENDING

Left: The Media's Refusal To Be Honest About Climate Change Robert Reich, Newsweek

Left: Another Senseless Death at the Southern Border Miriam Davidson, The Progressive

Left: I Was on the Church Committee. GOP's Version Is An Outrage Gary Hart, NYT

Right: We Need Answers on Biden's Classified Docs Malcolm & Stimson, Daily Signal

Right: Biden Doesn't Intend To Defend America's Borders Clifford May, Washington Times

Right: Here's How Extreme Dems Have Gone on Abortion Ben Domenech, The Spectator

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QUICK CLICKS

Dodging a Default, Nuke Threat, Actor and Armorer Charged

US: Yellen says Treasury is taking extraordinary measures to avoid default as U.S. hits debt limit (CNBC)

World: Russia threatens nuclear war if it loses in Ukraine (NY Post)

Hollywood: Alec Baldwin & ‘Rust’ Armorer To Face Criminal Charges Over 2021 Fatal Movie Shooting, Santa Fe D.A. Says (Deadline)

World: Jacinda Ardern: New Zealand PM quits citing burnout (BBC)

US: Supreme Court investigation fails to identify leaker of Dobbs draft decision (Fox News)

Economy: Striking French workers lead 1 million people in protest over plans to raise retirement age (CNN Business)

Business: Bankrupt FTX may make a comeback (TheStreet)

US: The federal government is investigating the possible human trafficking of children who cleaned slaughterhouses (NBC News)

US: Feds send $930 million to curb ‘crisis’ of U.S. West wildfires (AP)

DAVOS

Meeting in the Mountains

This week the World Economic Forum has gathered in Davos, Switzerland. It’s the first time in three years that the event has been fully hosted in person.

Reporting from the Right: Al Gore goes on ‘unhinged’ rant about ‘rain bombs,' boiled oceans, other climate threats at Davos (Fox News)

Reporting from the Left: Davos draws record crowds, but its relevance is fading (CNN)

From The Flag: Members of the global elite are on the event’s highly exclusive guest list, including world leaders, billionaires, and corporate executives. Over 600 CEOs are said to be attending, as well as 50 heads of state. Here’s more from both sides.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Davos Can Be a Force for Good at a Time of Upheaval and Avarice

• With the conference at Davos underway, it’s a good time to push for fair taxation while fighting corporate greed and monopolies.

• Cryptocurrency is on a redemption tour at Davos, after the FTX contagion threw the sector into chaos.

• Davos is an important forum at a dangerous time, given war and natural disaster threaten to engulf the global economy.

“The return of Davos highlights an unprecedented global wealth grab” Nabil Ahmed, The Hill Op-ed: “The return of Davos has us thinking about the world we had before the pandemic and the one we’re entering now. … New Oxfam data show that, since 2020, the world’s richest 1 percent have grabbed twice as much new wealth as the 99 percent put together — somehow outdoing their extraordinary grab of half of new wealth over the past decade. … Add to that a corporate smash-and-grab for profit that has exacerbated and exploited inflation. Big pharma corporations, while fiercely monopolizing control of publicly-funded COVID-19 vaccines, made $1,000 in profit a second. Ninety-five food and energy corporations have more than doubled their profits in 2022. … To counter this, we need sensible, sustained policies that redress monopoly power, backs workers and invest in our children. A strategic precondition to a more equal society is rethinking our tax system, including by taxing wealth and ensuring the richest pay their fair share.”

“Crypto's Redemption Tour Rolls On in Davos” Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post: “After a year of massive losses, arrests and unfolding legal troubles, many of the world’s largest cryptocurrency and blockchain companies are back in Davos this year, hoping to shore up — or resuscitate, if necessary — the industry’s image and attract new investors. The yearly gathering of the world elite — known for its concentration of billionaires, bankers and heads of state — has become an unlikely destination for an industry that has long pitched itself as an alternative to traditional banking, beyond the reach of government and financial institutions. And while some key players — including Tether, a crypto giant that passed out free pizza at least year’s conference — are missing this week, many others are doubling down on their presence, both on official panels and at private shops, yoga studios and churches that they’ve converted into promotional event spaces for the week.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Geopolitics threatens to destroy the world Davos made Gideon Rachman, Financial Times Opinion

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Taking a Deep Look at Davos Reveals Something Quite Sinister

• There’s a lot of hypocrisy at Davos that’s worth poking fun at, but the growing fight between economic globalism and populism is real.

• The World Economic Forum is more or less a highly influential globalism lobby, which undermines the spirit of democracy.

• In order to attend Davos you have to be super rich and powerful all while embracing wacky ideas like “greenhouse gas bombs.”

“The Davos Crowd Sees Republicans as the Enemy” Walter Russell Mead, Wall Street Journal Opinion: “You will hear more talk about the evils of inequality here than anywhere except an American university’s diversity office, yet everyone wears a badge that delineates his exact place in an elaborate and inflexible pecking order. … But something serious is happening at Davos. The divide between the consensus of the business and political leaders who gather here and the values and perceptions that shape American conservatives and the Republican Party is growing into a chasm. … Criticism of Davos used to come mostly from the left. These days, its most bitter critics come from the populist right. And a Davos elite that once saw doctrinaire leftism as the greatest obstacle to global prosperity and progress now increasingly sees right-wing populism as the enemy of everything good.”

“How the Davos Elite Took Back Control” Thomas Fazi, UnHerd Opinion: “Founded in 1971… the WEF is ‘committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation’, also known as multistakeholder governance. The idea is that global decision-making should not be left to governments and nation-states — as in the post-war multilateralist framework enshrined in the United Nations — but should involve a whole range of non-government stakeholders: civil society bodies, academic experts, media personalities and, most important, multinational corporations. … While this may sound fairly benign, it neatly encapsulates the basic philosophy of globalism: insulating policy from democracy by transferring the decision-making process from the national and international level, where citizens theoretically are able to exercise some degree of influence over policy, to the supranational level, by placing a self-selected group of unelected, unaccountable ‘stakeholders’ — mainly corporations — in charge of global decisions concerning everything from energy and food production to the media and public health.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Davos elites are in love with their crazy ideas Jesse Watters, Fox News

FLAG THIS

A Dark Outlook From Davos

Ahead of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, PricewaterhouseCoopers surveyed CEOs from around the world about their outlook on the global economy.

7 of 10 CEOs said they are expecting global economic growth to decline over the next 12 months. This gloomy view is the most pessimistic business leaders have been since PwC began the survey more than a decade ago, it said on Monday.

In a separate but related poll, Elon Musk asked on Twitter whether the WEF should “control the world.” With more than 2 million responses, 86% voted “no."

FLAG FINDS

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📺 Stream it all in one place. Showtime’s Inside the NFL has you covered as the playoffs heat up. The Good Fight is a thrilling legal drama you’ll find binge-worthy. And with Paramount+ you’ll learn Yellowstone’s roots with 1883. Try it for free, then check out the various bundling options.

WATERCOOLER

Iran Hostage Crisis Ends, Daily Habits of Happiness, Best Fake Restaurant Ever

On January 20, 1981, minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis.

Inc: Einstein's Law of Focus: How to Be More Productive, Accomplished, and Fulfilled, Starting Today

TIME: The Daily Habits of Happiness Experts

CNBC: Gen Z workers want to retire before 60—here’s how much they need to save each month to get to $2 million

Today I Learned in 2017, a man created a fake restaurant on TripAdvisor, got people to post good reviews, and made the fake restaurant the #1 restaurant in London, triggering hundreds of calls for reservations.