More Covid-19 infection, higher inflation, uncertain and uneven economic recoveries and more volatile financial markets. That's a reasonable guess of what is likely to play out next year, barring inevitable surprises, both pleasant and not.

From how it looks now, the world in 2022 will continue to be haunted by Covid-19. The emergence of the Omicron variant, which is now the most dominant in several countries, reminds us that there is no smooth or linear path out of the pandemic.