Davos: In a nutshell

(CNN) -- Every year, the finest minds in the economic world are joined by heads of state, investment gurus and boardroom leaders.

This year, they're discussing everything from the meltdown on world financial markets to "How to Slow the Ageing Process", "The Essence of Charisma", and "Happiness -- How Much Can You Take?"

Outside the formal sessions, corporate leaders have been speaking with CNN, sharing their views on the world economy and oil prices.

Business leaders also had a lot to say in a special session dedicated to sovereign wealth funds, entitled "Myths and Realities of Sovereign Wealth Funds". Their comments are below.

On the world economy...

Maurice Flanagan, Vice Chairman, Emirates (on fears of a slowdown)
"We've seen no effect at all here. I think had it been as dramatic as people say, or as people fear, we would've been affected. But we've seen nothing. Our flights to New York are absolutely choc-a-bloc; in fact we're going to have to put more in."

Stephen Roach, Asia Chairman, Morgan Stanley
"The U.S. is the biggest consumer in the world, and if the biggest consumer in the world falls, then I think Asia will feel it. I know this comes as a rude awakening to most of my brethren in Asia who want the great excess consumption boom in the U.S. to continue indefinitely but I'm afraid that that's about to come to an end with the bursting of the U.S. housing and credit bubbles."

John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems
"Well, I think we're all aware we like strong economies. But I've just come out of India and China in the last couple of months, I just went throughout the Gulf states in the last week, and those economies are clearly on fire. Business leaders there are very confident. So I personally believe you'll see a more balanced global economy. Having said that I make none of my decisions on what I think's going to occur this next quarter or the quarter after that."

Scott McDonald, Head of Financial Services, Oliver Wyman
"Our sense is that 2008 is going to be a really rough year for financial services. The current credit crisis we think has a lot further to play out, there are a lot more losses to come. We think there are a whole series of shocks in the market. The US economy being one, but real estate outside the U.S. being one, commodities prices, Asian equities, all these things can hurt the sector."

Jeroen van der Veer, CEO, Shell (On oil prices)
"We think the best is for people to expect more volatility. And why is that? Because there are no physical problems: you don't wait to fill up gasoline, anywhere. But there's a lot of speculation going. So it's just the mood of the market. So you could say there's more psychology in the price, than problems with the physical flow.

On sovereign wealth funds...

Robert Kimmitt, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary
"Our view is that the sovereign wealth funds are a force for good in the world economy. Vigilance is required because of their number and their size. And there are responsibilities on both sides -- the sovereign wealth funds and the recipient nations."

Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Blackstone Group
"These are among the most professional investors in the world. In our experience, there is virtually no difference between going to a sovereign fund [for investment capital] and going to a state pension fund in the US."

Richard S. Fuld Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lehman Brothers
"They need the capital markets to function and the capital markets need the liquidity they provide."

Muhammad S. Al Jasser, Vice-Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
"The attitude seems to be that sovereign investors are guilty until they are proven innocent."

Bader M. Al Sa'ad, Managing Director, Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA)
"Have you ever seen a sovereign fund, one which is leveraged 20 or 30 times, force a central bank to devalue its currency? No. So there is no real substance here."

Lawrence H. Summers, Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
"If we believe in free markets, shouldn't we have some kind of guidelines for transactions that have an element, if only a small element, of cross-border nationalization? E-mail to a friend