A pedestrian wearing a protective mask is reflected in an electronic stock board outside a securities firm, on Jan. 4, 2021. (Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg)
It is that time of the year when everyone dusts off the crystal ball and does some intense gazing into the future, trying to foretell what the New Year shall bring. But as the saying goes, we need to know where we are to know where we need to go. So the first thing to do before looking into 2022, is to take stock of what happened in 2021 and how it is going to impact what is to come ahead.