2026 outlook calls for recalibrationListen to this articleDonald Trump and Xi Jinping talk in Busan, South Korea, on Oct 30, 2025. Yet as we move further into 2026, the AI narrative is unlikely to prove strong enough to continue overshadowing other lingering uncertainties, many of which reflect deeper structural shifts. If 2025 was about ignoring the market spillovers of domestic and international politics, 2026 will be about navigating them. The 2026 outlook is likely to demand a more tactical, bottom-up approach. High deficits and ballooning debt will prove far less forgivable in a world where the AI narrative is no longer loud enough to drown out lagging policies.

Source: Bangkok Post January 16, 2026 23:34 UTC