Why the UK economy could fare better in 2017 than forecasters predict

From house prices to exports, there are reasons to be cheerful this year despite concerns over Brexit negotiations

New Year: a time for resolutions, detox diets and predictions. But after the year forecasters had in 2016, who would be brazen enough to predict how 2017 will pan out?

Where most economists went wrong last year - including the likes of the Bank of England and International Monetary Fund - was in predicting a sharp slowdown in the event of a vote for Brexit. George Osborne, for example, made the misjudged warning that a vote to leave the EU was a vote for recession.