The ongoing uncertainties over both the UK and global economy will be one of the big themes of 2012. At the last Big Stories seminar of the year, BBC director of news Helen Boaden talked about some recent audience research on the subject.
The majority of those interviewed - 80% - believed the BBC has the right amount of coverage. But Helen Boaden said it is a real challenge to make the story clear and to capture the different perspectives and outlooks both within the UK and globally:
BBC chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym examined some of the figures and projections about the UK economy. There is some good news for British companies, he said, with the rise of the BRICs - Brazil, Russia, India and China; four of the world's largest emerging economies:
BBC Scotland's business and economy editor, Douglas Fraser, looked at economic variations across the UK:
The economy is clearly not on the course the Coalition set, yet the mood remains upbeat in Downing Street, according to political editor Nick Robinson:
Globally, the Eurozone's gloomy prospects continue to worry the world's policy-makers and money markets. There are also warning signs from China, which faces a critical year in 2012, on both the economic and the political front. The editor of the BBC's Chinese service, Raymond Li, and business correspondent Jonty Bloom explained why:
