It's only when the tide goes out, as Warren Buffet likes to say, that we learn who's skinny dipping. The last 12 months saw a bull market in naked swimming among leaders, policy makers, businesspeople and pundits.
Of course, this last group was especially suitless in 2016. The "experts" assured us that Rodrigo Duterte wouldn't be elected in the Philippines, Brexit couldn't happen, Donald Trump had zero chance of winning, China would crash, India would impress, Taiwan wouldn't be much in the news, North Korea would pipe down and Samsung would quickly get its exploding-phone crisis under control. Instead, the media, pollsters and establishment commentators looked like a collective walking lobotomy.
It's time to look back at a year when so many smart people were caught sans clothes, in the Buffett sense. Without further ado, here are the nominees for our second annual Barron's Asia "Naked Awards." Drum roll, please!