Christine Lagarde isn't on 'the same page' as Carney over ruptured world

Davos leaders push back against Mark Carney's warning of a disintegrating world, stressing that global interdependence still anchors growth and trade

Mark Carney’s bleak view of a disintegrating world met pushback from global economic chiefs in Davos who emphasised how mutual reliance in international affairs can’t be ignored.  

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said she’s “not exactly on the same page” as the Canadian premier, while Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organisation, pointed to how the world is weathering the storm unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s attempts to rewire commerce and acquire more territory.  

“From an economic and from a business point of view, we depend on each other,” Lagarde told the final panel of the World Economic Forum. “We have these very strong links and binds. Suppliers sometimes are in a position of strength. If I look at supply and demand, we have also a position of strength, and I think that all directions have to be explored.” 

Despite the transatlantic spat over Trump’s desire to annex Greenland, followed by his prolonged speech to the forum on Wednesday where he appeared to dial down threats over the Arctic island, it was Carney’s address the prior day that got much of Davos talking this week.  

The Canadian described how the “rules-based order is fading” and how “the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.” He delivered a call to action to his “middle power” peers to act in tandem because “if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”