The world is not about to reverse a trend towards authoritarian or nationalist government, or make significant progress on combating climate change, according to the first joint survey of Financial Times and Nikkei readers.
Asked to assess the likelihood of various events happening by 2025, readers of the FT and the Japanese and English publications of Nikkei thought Vladimir Putin would still be in power, Brexit would not be reversed, China would become the world’s biggest economy and India its most populous. They did not think the Syrian civil war would be over or that Africa as a whole would achieve the world’s fastest growth.
Readers were more optimistic about gender equality, predicting the US would have its first female president in 2025. Kamala Harris, the US vice president-elect, is considered a frontrunner for the 2024 Democratic nomination while former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley is the most prominent Republican woman associated with the race.