2018 was a great year — yes, really. The English summer surpassed any in living memory in its excellence. England’s football team performed far beyond expectations in the World Cup. Less parochially, the global economy grew rapidly (at around 3.5% in real terms at market exchange rates), so that millions more were lifted out of absolute poverty, globally, while billions saw a real improvement in their standard of living. As we set out in ‘Reasons to be cheerful’ at the...

Fathom’s 2018 scorecard