Last year, when JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon spoke at the opening press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he opened with this line: "Number one on my list is world peace."

Of course, the hot topics of conversation last year included a rogue trader at Société Générale and the potential impact of investments by sovereign wealth funds. Seems almost quaint now, doesn't it? Dimon isn't a co-chair of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum this year, so we won't know if world peace is still number one on his list or if something more like "sustainability of the U.S. banking system" might have supplanted it.

A lot has changed in the global economy since last year, and business executives, political leaders, entrepreneurs, and wannabe V.I.P.'s from around the globe will gather in the Swiss mountains this week to hash it out. The theme of this year's conference is "Shaping the Post-Crisis World," which is optimistic considering we haven't quite figured out how to move from mid-crisis to post-crisis.

"What we are experiencing is the birth of a new era, a wake-up call to overhaul our institutions, our systems and, above all, our way of thinking,” said World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab in a statement. (Read a profile of Schwab here.)

Although he's not co-chairing, Dimon is on the schedule to participate in the conference again this year, along with other major names in finance including Josef Ackermann of Deutsche Bank, Robert Diamond of Barclays, and Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group.

But this year, Davos may be more notable for who isn't there rather than who is. Former Merrill Lynch chief John Thain was supposed to participate but given the fact that he got his walking papers from Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis last week, his attendance would be surprising. Others from last year's conference such as Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein and Morgan Stanley's John Mack aren't on the list to participate. Will Citigroup host a cocktail party again? Doubtful.  

The conference will open with remarks by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Other political leaders will include Angela Merkel of Germany and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The 200+ panels will tackle regular Davos topics such as global warming, poverty, and innovation in science and technology. But the dominant theme will undoubtedly be the economic crisis that's currently plaguing many of the largest countries in the world.

With so many bright minds in one tiny town, will they come up with any solutions? Stay tuned to find out.