Angst Over Argentina Upends Alpine Complacency in Davos

Over a three-hour lunch in Davos yesterday, Carlyle Group LP co-founder David Rubenstein told a group of investors and bankers his biggest worry: nobody appeared to be worried about anything at all.

Less than 24 hours later, the devaluation of the Argentine peso accelerated the worst selloff in emerging market stocks in five years, unnerving delegates at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. As they shuttled from meetings to meals, losses were piling up by the minute as developing nation currencies slid with equities.