2023: The Year Ahead

Every year has its expressions – those words or phrases that sum up the fleeting Zeitgeist. Remember “Bridge to the 21^st Century?” Probably not, because its day in the sun was way back in 1997, and in any case this century of ours has so far turned out to be quite different from those hopeful exhibits and Fleetwood Mac soundtracks that festooned the National Mall at the beginning of Bill Clinton’s second term as president. But here we are nearly a quarter-way into the 21^st century, and one of the defining expressions of our time is “polycrisis.” In 2022 this word gained a large following thanks in no small part to Adam Tooze, a Columbia University professor whose “Chartbook” newsletter is a weekly must-read for economists, financial markets chroniclers and historians of all stripes.