Talk of the town in Davos...

• Economists have moved away from fears of a global double dip recession and are predicting a three tier growth structure for the world economy. Most of Europe will show sluggish progress in 2011, the US and Germany will grow a little faster, while Brazil, Russia, India and China (the Brics) power on in high single digits.

• The ongoing transfer of wealth is not just from west to east, but also to the south, with impressive gains in Latin America and Africa. The catch-phrase yesterday was not Brics but the "Next 11" - a clutch of other emerging nations ranging from Indonesia to Vietnam which are seeing most of the interesting initial public offerings on stock markets.

• The global financial crisis did not spark protectionism, but the threat remains, exacerbated by currency rows. Trade ministers will hold two meetings at Davos this week to review progress on the renewed push for a deal on the Doha trade round, already more than nine years old, Failure to reach agreement would deal a body blow to the global trading system.

• Inflation and unemployment remain serious concerns. Soaring prices in energy, steel, cooper and food are causing discontent and threatening growth in the longer term in developing countries, while trade unionists and several executives cited high youth unemployment, worsening labour conditions and growing inequality as threats to social stability in the developed world.

• Business leaders welcomed US president Barack Obama's offer of a five-year partial spending freeze that he said would cut $400 billion (275bn) from budget deficits over ten years, but questioned whether he had gone far enough to give investors real confidence.