It has been a busy year for the world’s central bankers.Thomson ReutersLONDON – For the financial markets and the global economy, 2017 has been a pretty good year.

All the major fears about 2017 that dominated the latter stages of site (click here to find out more) 2016 — a market crash in the event of a Trump presidency, a Brexit-triggered recession in the UK, and a collapse of the eurozone following the implosion of the Italian banking system — have failed to materialise.

The economic story of the year has largely been one of positive growth and rising stocks.

That’s not to say, however, that 2017 has been dull or incident free. To name but a few major talking points, we’ve had the Federal Reserve continuing their tightening cycle, the Bank of England raising interest rates for the first time in more than 10 years, and the unstoppable surge of bitcoin.

In markets, often the best way to illustrate what’s going on is with a chart. Charts are great ways of simply explaining fiendishly difficult concepts, and can paint a much clearer picture than words much of the time.

As such, as we approach the year’s end, Business Insider decided to round up a selection of the charts that we feel define what went on in the world economy in 2017. Time to take a look back.

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