The five biggest market surprises of 2023
Shareholders have had a remarkably good year. Forecasters have had a terrible one
![Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20231223_FNP503.jpg)
Financial markets will always produce surprises. After all, by the time a consensus has formed, people will have bought or sold accordingly. The move has already happened; the future has something else in store.
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Cheap solar power is sending electrical grids into a death spiral
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Russian inflation is too high. Does that matter?
In a strong economy, price pressure can endure for a long time
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Why you should repay your mortgage early
For the first time in decades, the arithmetic suggests settling housing loans
How AI will divide the best from the rest
Optimists hope the technology will be a great equaliser. Instead, it looks likely to widen social divides
The danger of relying on OpenAI’s Deep Research
Economists are in raptures, but they should be careful
Elon Musk is failing to cut American spending
DOGE has so far disrupted everything in government bar the deficit