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if large economies keep interest rates loose for too long, faster global growth could instead add fuel to the fire. Tighter monetary policy in the United States and the Euro area is still a way off, but may be edging closer.  The European Central Bank will conclude emergency lending in December. The rate on the final loans will be indexed to the ECB’s benchmark rate, rather than fixed at 1 percent, giving the Bank room to raise interest rates if needed. Unemployment, a key signal for central bankers considering raising rates, fell to 10 percent in the United States last week, but it is not yet clear if this improvement will persist.

These price surges could cause or temporarily conceal bad debts in a number of smaller economies, hurting investors who have turned to these markets. However, unless these surges continue, the risk to the global recovery will be contained. Dubai World’s recent near default illustrates the potential shocks that debt from bursting asset bubbles can cause. Similar problems could and probably will emerge in other economies which have been badly hit by the crisis, and where government finances are stretched, including Ireland, Greece, and the Baltics.

U.S. manufacturing firms spend almost three times as much per worker per hour for healthcare as our most important foreign competitors--$2.38 versus $0.96. Healthcare costs drive employers to move jobs overseas, grow jobs outside of the United States, and limit the ability of firms to invest to improve productivity [and] compete more effectively in the future.

Analysis also shows that the U.S. economy loses as much as $207 billion annually because of the lost productivity stemming from the poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured. Employers notice the workplace productivity loss, which for a full-time worker equals four days a month in lost work time.

On the budget front, the House bill would reduce deficits by $138 billion over the next decade and the Senate measure would reduce deficits by $130 billion over that period, says the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which predicts the two measures would continue to reduce deficits for at least a decade thereafter. The bills would achieve this goal through a combination of spending cuts (largely in Medicare) and tax increases that, together, exceed the costs of bringing health insurance coverage to about 95 percent of all legal residents. The House and Senate bills deserve much more credit for cost control than they have received. They [address] almost all areas that experts have identified as promising areas for reducing the growth of healthcare spending. Most important, both would create a health insurance exchange to promote competition among private health insurance plans based on price and quality, reduce administrative costs, and provide a platform for systemic change across the healthcare system.

The Obama administration established new federal greenhouse gas pollution limits. An October executive order requires federal government agencies to set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that must be met by 2020. All of these actions, along with additional steps forward, will help enhance American economic competitiveness. And on December 7, Environmental Protection Agency Adminstrator Lisa Jackson announced the "endangerment finding" under the Clean Air Act. This enables EPA to finalize limits on global warming pollution from motor vehicles and large industrial sources. President Obama would prefer that Congress, rather than EPA, establish these pollution limits, but the endangerment finding means that EPA will act if Congress fails to do so.

China announced a carbon reduction target. The Obama administration’s hard work with China and India is starting to pay off. China announced on Thanksgiving Day a target of reducing carbon pollution per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. This is the first time China has committed to specific carbon reductions. The November joint statement by Presidents Obama and Hu Jintao on the creation of a greenhouse gas inventory between the U.S. EPA and China will make it possible to measure and verify these reductions.

India announced a carbon reduction target. India announced on December 2, soon after the U.S.-India summit in Washington, that it intends to offer a target for decreasing its carbon intensity 24 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. This is the first time India has proposed its own specific carbon reduction target, which adds to its already established commitment to set the largest solar power generation target in the world.

Obama recently pledged that the United States would reduce emissions about 17 percent by 2020 as compared with 2005 levels (though the Wall Street Journal is reporting that he might soon announce steeper cuts for 2050); his current pledge reflects numbers in bills now under review by Congress. The president probably can't offer much more without risking that any final treaty would later be rejected by Congress, similar to what happened when the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the Kyoto climate treaty in 1997.

Rather than absolute carbon cuts, some developing countries, including China and India, have declared goals of reducing the "carbon intensity" of their economies. In other words, they will use less carbon per unit of GDP growth, but as their overall economies grow, so too will carbon emissions, at least for the short term. China has pledged to reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 40 to 45 percent. India has a target of 20 to 25 percent. The targets have been applauded by some as a step forward and pilloried by others as far too low.

The upshot: Nothing will happen unless there's money behind it, and for some countries, the financial pledge may be as politically difficult as the carbon-reduction pledge. (Sen. John Kerry has proposed that the United States pony up $2.5 billion to $3 billion, roughly equivalent to the annual budget of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.) With many industrialized countries stuck in recessions and struggling with high unemployment, short-term generosity will be difficult.

Whether Democrats can keep control of the House in the 2010 election hinges on three things: the direction of job growth, Democrats' ability to convince independent voters that the country’s finances are not out of control, and the direction of Barack Obama’s approval ratings.

Podesta argued that no one unemployment figure will be a “magic number” for Democrats' political success. Instead, if by the summer of 2010 the number of jobs in the economy is growing consistently, then Democrats in Congress can hold the loss of seats “to a relative minimum,” he said. One question, he added, is “do people smell we are on the right path or do they feel still bogged down?”

For Democrats to demonstrate that control, Podesta argued in favor of a timetable to put the federal budget back in balance. “Once the economy is fully recovered, deficit reduction will be critical to growth and broadly shared prosperity,” he said. The Center for American Progress proposes establishing a mechanism to ensure that government income and spending for all items -- except debt service -- move into balance by 2014. The next goal would be to have all government spending – including debt service – be covered by income in 2020.

Why does the WTO face such paralysis? The political impossibility of curbing farm subsidies in many countries is only part of the reason the Doha talks are stalled. Sheer numbers are an equally troublesome problem. The days when the United States and the European Union could write the rules for world trade are long gone. There are now 153 countries around the bargaining table, and emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India, and Argentina are eager to flex their muscles on the world stage, making consensus all but impossible to come by.

Why does the WTO face such paralysis? The political impossibility of curbing farm subsidies in many countries is only part of the reason the Doha talks are stalled. Sheer numbers are an equally troublesome problem. The days when the United States and the European Union could write the rules for world trade are long gone. There are now 153 countries around the bargaining table, and emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India, and Argentina are eager to flex their muscles on the world stage, making consensus all but impossible to come by.

With the WTO paralyzed, countries have increasingly taken matters into their own hands and struck trade agreements bilaterally or in small groups, diminishing the WTO's role still further. The United States started this trend, signing the controversial North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), pacts with Israel and Jordan, and several others. These deals, never popular, have become politically problematic in America, but they have become all the rage in Asia, the fastest-growing part of the world. As they proliferate, an increasing number of countries will give better treatment to exports from one another than to exports from the United States.

Sarika Malhotra: What stops the yuan from being a major reserve currency? Uri Dadush: The list is long— including limited convertibility, capital account restrictions, shallow capital markets, and lingering concerns — justified or not — about the durability of China’s political system as we know it today. Essentially, you would like to keep your assets in a currency and a system that allows you easy entry and exit, and that has a long track record of stability, and China’s track record is still work in progress.

Malhotra: What role will euro play in the changing dynamics? Dadush: The euro is the only viable alternative to the dollar today especially in the EU neighbourhood, and, on balance, appears to have navigated a historic crisis successfully. However, the euro is also still a young currency, work-in-progress, and there are still concerns — justified or not — that some of the less competitive euro-area economies may one day buckle under the pressure of a currency that is too strong for them and that may be retarding their growth. European capital markets are still too fragmented and individually too shallow to compete with the US. You prefer to hold your assets in an economy that is large, fully integrated, and has a common regulatory framework, a foreign and security policy; Europe is still a way from that.

Cuba's communist government currently controls almost all aspects of the country's economy and employs about 85% of the official workforce, which is put at 5.1 million people. As many as one-in-five of all workers could lose their jobs.

To create jobs for the redundant workers, strict rules limiting private enterprise will be relaxed and many more licenses will be issued for people to become self-employed. Private businesses will be allowed to employ staff for the first time.

They will also have to pay tax on their profits and for each person they employ, something which could dramatically boost the government's income.

A closely watched barometer of America’s job market – the number of weekly unemployment claims – fell to its lowest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, whose failure deepened the financial crisis more than a year ago. New jobless claims declined to 432,000, the Labor Department said. The news was better than economists had predicted, and confirms a trend of improvement in recent weeks that suggests that recession-related job losses are winding down. But many forecasters still see weakness ahead for several months before the economy starts adding jobs. During good times, weekly jobless claims typically run at a pace of about 300,000. During the early part of this year, the initial-claims pace was running above 600,000.

American incomes rose in November for the fifth straight month, providing much-needed traction for economic recovery. The overall personal income earned by Americans rose by 0.4 percent in the month, according to numbers released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.That fueled a gain in consumer spending, which rose 0.5 percent from October.

American incomes rose in November for the fifth straight month, providing much-needed traction for economic recovery. The overall personal income earned by Americans rose by 0.4 percent in the month, according to numbers released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.That fueled a gain in consumer spending, which rose 0.5 percent from October.Another jolt of positive news: Consumer confidence rose in a December survey by the University of Michigan and Reuters.The picture is still not one of a brisk rebound for the economy. Much of the gain in incomes continues to come from government stimulus programs, and the gains in income and spending are smaller when inflation is taken into account. (Adjusting for inflation, personal income rose 0.2 percent in November. The gain was just 0.1 percent when the impact of government transfer payments is subtracted.)

Mr. Bethune predicts that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will rise in the fourth quarter at a 4 percent annual pace, up from the third quarter's 2.2 percent rate, which the government reported Monday.

Some 11,000 jobs were lost in November, the smallest total since the recession began late in 2007. And despite the continued job losses, the overall unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 10.0%.

None of this means that the troubles are all over, however. The unemployment rate had once before declined in 2009, from June to July, before proceeding to rise for the next three months. A steady decline now will be hard to achieve: one estimate suggests that the American economy needs to add around 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.

the North Korean government revalued the country's currency, the won, and imposed restrictions on the quantity of old bills that people could convert for the new ones. Pyongyang's revaluation means that 100 won is now worth 1 won.

the revaluation is a major measure designed to consolidate the government's control over the economy as it works towards unveiling the DPRK as a "strong and prosperous nation" (kangsong daeguk) in 2012. Defectors had noted that the market activity sprouting out over key parts of the country had been eroding discipline -- corruption among officials had been increasing significantly, fueled by a growing group of prosperous market traders. This trend had the effect of decentralizing the DPRK regime's power.

In an apparent effort to restore discipline through this revaluation, the DPRK government may have initiated a period of economic, social, and political destabilization by undermining a widely used coping mechanism for the people, as well as a growing number of officials.

• Mortgage problems rose during the third quarter, with 6.2 percent of all loans seriously delinquent (60 days or more past due) and an additional 3.2 percent of all loans in the process of foreclosure. Delinquency among prime mortgages – the largest and highest-quality category – rose significantly.

Policymakers hope to stabilize the housing market using several strategies. First, the Federal Reserve has been helping to keep interest rates low, but it's possible that rates could rise as the Fed backs off from its program of buying mortgage securities next year.Second, the Obama administration is encouraging lenders to reduce defaults through loan modifications. "Loan mods" that offer sizable cuts in monthly payments perform much better than less-generous modifications. But the re-default rate remains high for all modifications, possibly because of the tough economy (borrowers losing jobs) as well as because of under-water borrowers who choose to walk away from their mortgage.

But for now, the top issue is whether to permanently extend the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, set to expire on Dec. 31. In fact, the two parties are not far apart. Both Republicans and Democrats back extending tax cuts for some 97 percent of taxpayers. The catch is the last 3 percent, representing individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and families earning more than $250,000.

But for now, the top issue is whether to permanently extend the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, set to expire on Dec. 31. In fact, the two parties are not far apart. Both Republicans and Democrats back extending tax cuts for some 97 percent of taxpayers. The catch is the last 3 percent, representing individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and families earning more than $250,000.The cost of extending tax cuts to this top income group would be $700 billion over the next 10 years.

House Republican leader John Boehner said on Sunday that he is open, if necessary, to renewing the Bush tax cuts for the 97 percent, even if it means not extending those cuts to the top 3 percent. But so far, no GOP leader has joined him.

President Obama is pushing for a permanent middle-class tax cut, but only if Bush-era cuts for top earners are eliminated. Republicans, in turn, want permanent tax relief for all income levels. The divide is rapidly becoming the marquee issue of the midterm election.

Given the lackluster recovery — with crucial housing and job markets still ailing — an expiration of tax cuts worth about $300 billion a year would be a huge hit to the economy, equivalent to 2% of the nation's total output. The potential economic fallout is far less clear if tax rates rose only for high earners.

The chances are small that Congress might address the issue before the November election. But there are ample opportunities for both parties to use their economic messages during the campaign.

But so far, the numbers undermine the stark crime wave predictions. In fact, the plunge in the national crime rate has been most evident in areas the housing bust has hit the hardest. Even with California unemployment higher than 12 percent, car thefts declined in Los Angeles by 20 percent last year over 2008. Nationally, both violent crime and property crime declined by about 5 percent between 2008 and 2009 – the height of the recession, according to an FBI report issued Monday.

Government safety nets – including extension of unemployment benefits and a growth in food stamp recipients – may also have helped to keep despair down and crime rates low, criminologists suggest. At the same time, new policing tactics, including the "broken windows" theory, and booming prison populations – currently at 1.6 million, five times the number of people incarcerated in 1977 – have succeeded largely by targeting specific lawbreakers and high-crime locales instead of broader social injustices, some social critics say.