Davos? Oh I’m sorry I thought you said ‘Davros’. Davros, of course, is the evil genius in the long-running British TV series Dr Who. He is the creator of the Daleks – emotionless creatures encased in machines always attempting to take over the universe and subjugate the rest of us to their rule.

Davos, on the other hand, is the World Economic Forum, populated by (mostly) middle-aged men in suits, apparently attempting to take over the universe and subjugate the rest of us to their financial rule.

Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference!

But not this year; indeed, the masters of the universe were remarkably subdued. The ‘West is best’ view of financial capitalism – as practiced and promulgated especially in the US and UK – has not covered itself in glory. How can it be otherwise after the events of the last 30 months or so.

And yet as the pendulum swings from financial excess to financial prudence we should take care that it does not swing equally vigorously into protectionism and financial sclerosis.

It is all very well to talk loudly, lecturing the rest of the world about the benefits of the ‘creative destruction’ of capitalism and the benefits of globalisation when you are riding high but if you’re going to talk the talk, you need to be prepared to walk the walk as well – and it would seem that this is where Western policymakers are pulling back. Bigger government is back in fashion; state capitalism is in vogue; investment bankers banging their own drums were in very short supply.

Consensus was a little hard to come by but there was agreement (resigned acceptance?) of the fact that there will be more banking regulation around the world. How co-ordinated such new regulations will be is another matter. Certainly steps need to be taken and quickly to restore confidence in the global banking system but if policymakers move in a piecemeal fashion they could simply make matters worse by creating a playing field with plenty of humps and bumps that would leave banks playing regulatory arbitrage.