Instead, most talk in Davos was centred on how to deal with a continuing crisis, rather than how to emerge from the current mess. Companies were preparing to batten down the hatches; the International Monetary Fund was drumming up support for a doubling of its financial firepower to deal with the risk of the crisis spreading; Asian Development Bank officials told western countries: “A 200 per cent capital increase is needed to address the current financial crisis as well as medium-term development investment needs in Asia,” as they prepared for loan demands from countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.