Just as the wealthiest individual ever to take the oath of office as president of the United States will do so this coming Friday, 20 Jan 17, wealth has become a bad word.

There is an article floating around these days that declares that eight men (no women in the group) hold as much combined wealth as the poorest half of the world's population.  Notable for our industry is that two of the eight are the Koch brothers who took Georgia-Pacific private a number of years ago (note there are at least two copies of this list floating around, one has the Koch brothers, one has other individuals).

Also this week, the annual Davos meeting takes place in Switzerland. It is notable that China is attending for the first time.  It is also notable that members of this elite group are wringing their hands, wondering what happened to globalization and multiculturalism. These attendees, who have at their beck and call all the best minds in the world, are at a loss as to where to go from here.

What does all of this mean for our industry on a day-to-day basis?  Big is out.  Skepticism is in.  Anything that looks big, and assets in the pulp and paper industry fit this category, is being viewed by the person on the street as something to mistrust.

How this affects the bottom line has yet to play out, but it just may be that about the time we may see some regulatory relief from a new administration in Washington, the funding of image enhancements to help the public feel good about the pulp and paper industry may be about to take off.  Where to look for early signs?  Watch what is going on in Indonesia, where public perception is dramatically changing the practices of the pulp and paper industry.