The only thing that can said with high confidence about the year ahead is that it will be different from 2023. Three broad forces will shape the business and investment climate in the year ahead. First, the post-Covid tightening cycle in the high-income countries, leaving aside Japan, has ended. The question is when and how fast rate cuts will be delivered. Moderating price pressures and weaker growth impulses have seen the pendulum of market sentiment swing dramatically from the "higher for longer" mantra of most of last year to pricing in aggressive easing the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank. Several ... (full story)