Photo by Financial Times
The annual report by the Financial Times, published the day before, covers important aspects of politics, economics, and technology for the year 2026.
According to analysts, the world in the upcoming year will become even more unpredictable. At the same time, many overvalued sectors, including technology and finance, will face the need to revise previous expectations.
Regarding the political and geopolitical situation, FT experts predict the following:
- Analysts believe that Donald Trump may soften his tough tariff threats by the end of the year under pressure from market conditions, inflation, and reactions from trading partners.
- Experts believe that Ukraine's abandonment of Donbas will only be possible in the event of a serious military defeat.
- There is a possibility that Democrats may regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, allowing them to block Trump's initiatives and initiate investigations.
- Saudi Arabia is not expected to seek normalization of relations with Israel, according to forecasts.
- Germany is likely to maintain a political "sanitary cordon" around the far-right AfD party.
In the field of economics and finance, the following trends are expected:
- Most central banks will continue to lower interest rates, except for Japan, which will remain a unique case.
- Despite a record trade surplus, the strengthening of the Chinese yuan is not expected.
- The private lending sector will face an increase in default rates, but a systemic financial crisis is not anticipated.
- The price of gold may exceed $5,000 per troy ounce.
- Economic growth rates in Africa may, for the first time, outpace those observed in Asia.
As for technology, the forecasts are as follows:
- The overheating in the artificial intelligence sector will begin to decline: large tech companies will continue to stay afloat, while small and venture firms will face losses.
- By 2026, a commercially viable quantum computer is unlikely to appear on the market.
- Humanoid robots, although they will enter the market, will remain expensive and niche products.
- A song completely created with AI will not be able to top the global music charts.
In the business and markets sector, the following events are expected:
- FT's forecast indicates that Tesla will not be able to regain its positions in the U.S., Europe, and China.
- Elon Musk will focus on artificial intelligence and robotaxis, rather than traditional car manufacturing.
The editorial also noted that their forecasts from last year turned out to be record-breaking inaccurate: 7 out of 20 predictions for 2025 did not come true — the lowest result in the history of their forecasts, highlighting the difficulty of predicting the future.
