“We are changing in a positive direction”, said Flanders, “more of the world is going into recovery mode than in the last few years.”

“Next year will not be stellar but it will be better.”

US

“It’s stunning how fast the US grew this year considering their active tightening and the government shutdown. But I don’t think the US will take off next year.”

“On tapering, it is fifty-fifty whether we will get a decision on this next week.”

Europe

“There are still a lot of questions around the Eurozone. I am worried about deflation and what that would do to the dynamic between the core and the periphery countries.

“The flow of private credit – both household and corporate – is still a big problem.

“Small and medium enterprises are most affected by the poor transmission method of loose monetary policy which is a big problem in European periphery countries.

“Europe will be on its own next year and will have to prove itself. It could do rather well. You will see earnings growth.”

UK

“We will see an improvement next year. George Osborne and Mark Carney need to be focussed on investment – the amount of money companies are sitting on needs to be put to use. Investment as a share of GDP is lower than it has been for 30 years.

“We will want job-lite growth over the next few years. We need productivity to go up leading to real wage growth.

“I think the Bank of England will wait for a very long time before raising interest rates.

“I am not pulling all of my money out of the UK but it doesn’t look as cheap as it did.”

Emerging markets

“If you’re brave and prepared to have some bumps down the road, emerging markets look cheap.”