Neither the government nor business nor individual citizens can do without an idea of what the future holds. Investors are especially interested in reliable, high-quality forecasts: without knowing which way prices and demand for products will go, what the conditions will be for raising financial resources, and so on, it is not possible to start a new business and take on the risks involved. The complex and multidimensional practice of forecasting has some common characteristics to which I would like to draw attention: 1. excessive optimism—the longer the forecasting horizon, the more optimistic the forecast; 2. inefficient (nonproductive, if you like) methods and approaches to forecasting based on purely technical analysis of phenomena and trends; 3. growing significance of the complex nature of forecasting (especially with the move from an individual business level to the macrolevel), that is, consideration of not only financial and economic processes but also historical and cultural aspects of the life of society.
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