The rows of empty seats, in a milieu where billionaires once jockeyed for places, said it all: this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos had more the atmosphere of a wake than a high-octane gathering of those who aspire to rule the world. Even to the least acute-minded globalist, the message was unmistakable: this was the husk of a once ambitious coterie; influence and power had migrated elsewhere.