In recent years, it’s been made evident to us that the World Economic Forum never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. That became abundantly clear after speaking to several people who recently returned from Davos. Yes, it’s true that the foundation behind the annual Davos forum has increased the amount of programming dedicated to acknowledging the problematic effects of globalism. But as the economist Branko Milanovic recently said, Davos has evolved into an event where elites love to advocate for equality — so long as nothing gets done.

But an even worse aspect of the 2019 event emerged this year: the demonization of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Keep in mind that we in no way support her call for a raising of federal tax rates on incomes over $10 million to 70 percent. But here’s the reality: Ocasio-Cortez is a freshman member of Congress with no seniority and little support from the leaders of her caucus. As such, while she can cause a big stir on Twitter, the chance of her pushing the Democrats to back her proposal is as likely as Mexico coughing up $5.7 billion to pay for a wall along the southern border. And yet, luminaries were teed up to take shots at AOC. Instead of deflecting the topic, they took the bait, thereby energizing a proposal that deserves no serious consideration.

This article was published as part of Weekly Briefing No. 159