The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting takes place this week, with political leaders, business executives, civil society and academics convening in Davos to set priorities and discuss forward-looking solutions to global challenges. 

Markets appear somewhat caught in the headlights amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty. Ahead of the weekend, US President Donald Trump said he would impose an additional 10% tariff on eight European nations, extending his confrontational trade stance and renewing his rhetoric about Greenland. 

In France, political risk remains elevated, with another vote of no confidence likely as the government seeks to push through its budget. (LS – Continue Reading) 

US President Donald Trump’s announcement to impose new tariffs on eight European countries set off alarm bells across European capitals over the weekend. At this point, the outcome of these new trade tensions is unclear, but what has long been evident is that there is no such thing as trade or tariff certainty anymore.  

On Saturday, President Trump announced an extra 10% tariff on Germany, France, the UK, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark as of 1 February until a deal on Greenland is reached. The tariffs would be increased to 25% by 1 June, if no deal is reached by then. As has been the case before, it is not exactly clear how this will work out as there has been no official communication from the White House, yet, just Trump’s announcement on social media. (ING – Continue Reading) 

Britain is seeing early signs of a long-awaited turnaround of its productivity woes, according to an alternative measure that suggests output per hour worked has risen at a pace not seen since before the financial crisis. 

The Resolution Foundation said a “blistering” productivity surge has been masked by problems with official statistics and pointed to encouraging indications of a clearout of “zombie” firms that contribute little to the economy. (BBG – Continue Reading) 

China's economic growth slowed to a three-year low in the fourth quarter as domestic demand softened, and while the full-year pace hit Beijing's target, trade tensions and structural imbalances pose significant risks to the outlook.

The world's second-largest economy showed remarkable resilience in 2025, helped by smaller-than-expected U.S. tariff hikes and exporters' efforts to diversify away from the United States, allowing policymakers to keep stimulus to modest levels. But demand at home further weakened since late last year as confidence has remained low amid a prolonged property crisis. 

China's economy grew 4.5% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday, slowing from the third-quarter's 4.8% pace as consumption and investment dragged. (RTRS – Continue Reading)