If you managed to ride the wave of the great recession and hang on to your sanity over the past decade, you will be forgiven for looking at the coming year with a degree of despondency.

The Band-Aid of monetary policy — quantitative easing — is about to be torn off and we don’t quite know what we’re going to find underneath. Then there are the events that make the headlines and give people sleepless nights. Ever since the UK voted to end its long- term relationship with the European Union, there has been a seemingly endless stream of geopolitical instability.

It started with Brexit, and was then followed by the whirlwind that surrounded Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign. Trump’s style of diplomacy has often resulted in tensions with neighbours Mexico and Canada, but he has also saved some strong words for China and North Korea.

There has been unrest and political upset on each continent in the past two years, as nations deal with change