Jim Power: Covid-19 is also bad news for the health of economic forecasters

The hazards and futility of trying to forecast the future have been highlighted in dramatic fashion by the escalation of the Coronavirus.

When sat down in early January to consider the year ahead, I had a somewhat more upbeat assessment of global economic prospects for 2020.

This was based on a view that ahead of his re-election bid in November, President Donald Trump would wind down his trade dispute with China and concentrate on ensuring as strong and stable an economy as possible in the run-up to the election.