The World Economic Forum has wrapped up its meetings here in New York. The CEOs and heads of state have returned totheir countries and their country clubs. Last weekend thousands of people descended on New York for massive streetprotests demonstrating against corporate driven globalization. The streets were full of people and puppets, drummersand dancers, activists and union leaders. Behind the police barricades, there were dozens of exclusive parties andsoirées where the captains of industry rubbed elbows with celebrities, government officials and world leaders. Someof these parties were so exclusive that even people like billionaire-currency speculator George Soros were notinvited. Well, Democracy Now! wasn’t invited to any of these galas either. But with a little help from some bravepeople on the inside of the WEF, we managed to crash one of these exclusive parties-in fact it was THE party thehottest ticket in town; held on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. In order to get in you had to have aspecial ID badge with a computer chip verifying your identity. The brazen bash invited the guests to experiencesounds and flavors from around the globe on the trading floor. A celebration of the Americas, a taste of Asia, anevening in Casablanca and the rhythms of Africa as you sample the exotic fare of Africa. Well, despite the heavysecurity, last Saturday, we headed to Wall Street and made it onto the floor of the Stock Exchange for the exclusivegala soirée.

Featuring interviews inside the gala with: Stanley Fisher, the new vice-chair of Citigroup; Dean Ornish, health guruand golf partner of former President Clinton; the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christie Todd Whitman;Ambassador Nicholas Platt, president of the Asia Society; and Swiss auctioneer David Feldman.

Interwoven throughout this special report are the sounds of the streets of New York during the protests against theWorld Economic Forum, including the Rainforest Action Network and the Billionaires for Bush.

Tape:

• “Crashing the stock market Democracy Now! style”, Produced by Jeremy Scahill and Jacquie Soohen.

Related link:

• World Economic Forum