A business year of bubbles and tensions with only one certainty ... the rich got richer

International business appeared almost impervious to the huge political tensions in Korea and the Gulf, as global shares soared and the rich got richer, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Glancing at our turbulent world at this time of year, writers and analysts like to sniff out trends and hunt for perspectives and try to make sense of the past 12 months while offering a preview of sorts of the year ahead. This, then, is one person’s Christmas fare, or burt offering.

A new president eyeballed a young princeling dictator who kept lobbing rockets into the sky as the focus of concern switched to East Asia.