Sánchez charges against the neoliberal discourse in Davos and demands that companies help defend democracy

The great ideological battle that will mark this super electoral year, with 74 elections around the planet, could be summarized in two consecutive interventions at the Davos summit. On the one hand, that of the Argentine Javier Milei, who went so far as to say that the world is on the path to socialism, that market failures do not exist and that the only cancer of the economy is the State, regulation and taxes. And, on the other hand, the Spanish Pedro Sánchez, who spoke right after to say the opposite in a speech very designed to also generate impact in Davos, where some businessmen, according to the president fears, may be tempted to give in to the current of Milei and other ultras like Donald Trump who harshly attack the ideas of redistribution, social justice and taxes.

Sánchez condemned neoliberal ideology and vindicated social democracy. But, above all, he demanded that those businessmen who may be attracted by speeches like Milei's remember their social obligation and get involved in the defense of democracy, with the aim of stopping the ultra wave that threatens the world. Especially this year, when there will be those 74 different elections around the planet, including those in the United States and Europe. Sánchez was very clear when addressing the companies, in a room full of executives, where some of the Ibex 35 were in the front row. “Help us to raise the purchasing power of workers, to stop the climate emergency, to vindicate international standards and to defend democracy and fight against the involution represented by the reactionary wave sweeping the world. In short: help us give people a better life,” he asked them.

“Let us not swallow the old neoliberal postulates that present the State as a purely extractive entity that does not generate value. Or who claim that the only responsibility of companies is to increase the profits of their shareholders. These ideas have been proven wrong by science and experience. You know it. You know that companies need governments to innovate and grow. And if companies do not work together, if they do not align their interests with those of society as a whole, we will not be able to overcome the great challenges of our time. And this will have an impact on your companies,” Sánchez told the businessmen, precisely in Davos, which for a week becomes the heart of capitalism where the most important companies on the planet come. It is exactly the opposite of what Milei said, who encouraged businessmen not to be ashamed of becoming rich, called them “heroes” and invited them to lead a fight “against the caste of politics”, against “international organizations dominated by neo-Marxist ideas” and against the States.

On the contrary, Sánchez invited collaboration between States and companies and not to be carried away by neoliberal ideas that see them as enemies. “Do not let yourself be dragged by those radical media and political parties that are obsessed with projecting us as systemic rivals. That they profit by selling polarization. Don't fall into their trap. Let's collaborate. Let's take advantage to build bridges, enhance synergies and establish new forms of public-private collaboration. The Government of Spain is your ally. We must work together to build new prosperity. A new virtuous triangle formed by the private sector, the State and civil society that allows us to guarantee economic prosperity, increase well-being and equality and ensure environmental sustainability for everyone and around the world,” he said.

“Spain is a paradise for companies that want to get rich by generating real value and paying the taxes that correspond to them,” he continued. But, above all, he discussed the idea of ​​the invisible hand of the market, precisely what Milei claimed, who went so far as to say that “market failure as such does not exist.”

“Today, Spaniards know that neoliberal policies do not work. That the option of reducing the size of the public sector and leaving citizens and small businesses alone when problems arise does not make sense. And that, when we collaborate and are together, we are stronger,” Sánchez insisted to finish with a clear defense of the workers, also in the face of the dangers of artificial intelligence, which according to the president must be controlled: “Those of us who learned not to believe in the invisible hand of the market, we cannot now profess blind faith in the invisible hand of artificial intelligence. Invisibility is usually sought to do evil, not good. I only trust the hands of flesh and blood: the ones that raise the blinds of a business every morning, the ones that hold a book at school, make dinner at night for their family or cast a vote in the ballot box. I care about those hands, real and visible.”

“We must pay more attention to the concerns of our workers, our young and our elderly, and less attention to the empty promises of some Silicon Valley gurus, who are more interested in gaining followers or climbing the Forbes millionaires list than in the true progress of humanity,” he launched. Sánchez insists that he is a defender of innovation, and not someone who rejects new technologies, and in fact these days he has met precisely with some of those top managers of technology companies, some of them with their headquarters in Silicon Valley, to look for investments in Spain. But he believes that artificial intelligence must be controlled so that it does not harm the interests of workers, erode democracy and make way for fake news.

Sánchez leaves Davos after two days with dozens of meetings with top-level businessmen in which no one has asked him about Carles Puigdemont or the amnesty. They have not even done so in the two interviews he gave to CNBC and Bloomberg. Davos serves precisely as a contrast, to see that what mobilizes Spanish politics barely worries international executives, beyond the interest in the stability of Sánchez's Executive. The president, who is no longer a newcomer, quite the contrary, is beginning to be one of the veteran leaders of Davos – it is his sixth year – he has already shown the big executives that he is a leader who can last another four years, and that's how they receive him. And the leader of the PSOE plays both sides of it. In private, he is a clear pro business who talks to businessmen about what interests them: regulatory stability, tax facilities, predictability, major reforms. And in public, he focuses on social democratic political discourse and reminds them that if they want to maintain their profits and wealth, they have to make it sustainable with a fairer distribution, paying more taxes, and moving away from the temptations of Milei and other ultras. Sánchez is already a Davos man who has even managed to get the leaders of the Ibex 35 to attend his appointments in this idyllic town in the Swiss Alps almost in full and avoid reading him the book on the taxes they don't like.

Both the president and his team leave Davos with a feeling of success and above all with a very important message: there are no major fears with stability in Spain and everything indicates that Sánchez will return next year to look for new investments. “With what is happening in the world, our situation, whether we lose a vote or not, is very little, and that is very noticeable here, no one is worried about that,” summarizes a member of the Government. “The executives are on something else, Spain is not worrying, we are not that important and nothing really disturbing is happening for the economic world,” summarizes an Ibex 35 executive present in Davos. Sánchez returns to the national political battle with the feeling that his international image is increasingly consolidated. But that in Spain does not guarantee anything if internal negotiations go awry.

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