...at least it is in the headlines, which is all that matters. It'll happen now that the media says it's happening.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/08/news/economy/deficit-2014/

The current administration wishes it were true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk8d_Ct5cZk

SO AD 

The UK is reported to be the fastest growing economy in the developed world

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2784296/Britain-fastest-growing-economy-But-eurozone-halt-global-recovery-says-IMF.html

The projections for debt seem to be a little better there (aiming to eliminate the budget deficit by 2018 or so) but wage increases are still generally below inflation.

We're heading into the time of year where sky high fuel bills will start to bite... electricity where I'm at in Canada is 3x cheaper than it is in the UK (7.5 cents off peak versus 12 pence per kwH), the difference is immense.

>UK the fastest growing economy in the developed world

Yeah, but when you didn't have anything to start with it's easy to grow, hhh.

Gasoline prices here are at a low despite the wars in the Middle East. Our weather service says the winter shouldn't be hard on utilities. And retailers are predicting a 4% increase in holiday business.  Housing is neutral, maybe a bit of a drag on the economy, though.  Anyway, this is almost all driven by perception -real or otherwise- and that's driven by media and the media is on a good-news roll. 

WTH is going on in W. EU? Particularly Germany? Why the fairly sudden deluge of poor economic news?

Problem with Germany is carrying the poo bag for the excuse of the Italian and Spanish economies.

Can't speak for Germany, but here in Austria a lot of people are nervous about the Euro's future, so not spending, so vicious circle

Good, quick western-world overview here

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/19/us-economy-global-idUSKCN0I806520141019

Quote from: sugarkane on October 11, 2014, 07:42:21 AM
Can't speak for Germany, but here in Austria a lot of people are nervous about the Euro's future, so not spending, so vicious circle

This is getting down to the nub of the problem: a good nation state based currency is backed by the "full faith and credit" of the issuing nation. Not so the Euro, if push really comes to shove and the Euro starts to crash I think the Euro states will start to cut and run.  Currency only works when it has the public trust.

The title of this thread notwithstanding, my personal observation of the 'recovery' is that it feels hollowed-out. Government employees and those that are a part of that food chain may be back in business and their payrolls pumping out cash, but the view from working-man's-small-town-america still sucks.

Most of what's said in this article seems to apply nationally, not just Florida

http://www.wral.com/economic-malaise-clouds-florida-governor-s-race/14094676/

My recent reading list:

http://www.businessinsider.com/europe-and-deflation-2014-10

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/waggoner/2014/10/16/investing-europe-deflation-you/17370943/

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2014/08/deflation-fear/

http://www.munknee.com/we-are-headed-for-crippling-deflation-first-then-rampant-inflation-heres-why/

We must watch out for "Long-term deflationary unemployment, in which no one works because no one is buying anything."

Remember the rule: BUY LOW > SELL HIGH 

Hollowed out is about right.  Residential subdivisions seem frozen, their lots half unsold since 2008, yet new subdivision starts continue to be announced, like we don't know what else to do.  None of the steel mills seem overly profitable. On the government front, all the state and local infrastructure is crumbling and the patches are falling off, but local governments are going to be starting to fail soon as there reserves run out, because the state keeps capping or cutting or swiping local tax revenues for themselves.

Not as bad as 2008 though, when even the freight trains (we have a lot of them) quit running.  They had nothing to haul. That was erie.

It seems like the nation's wealth is all being siphoned off-shore.

The European Central Bank's financial health check has become more pressing in recent weeks as the eurozone is seen to again be tottering on the edge of recession, with fears of deflation rising and economic growth in its biggest economies stalling.

http://news.yahoo.com/25-eurozone-banks-fail-ecb-financial-health-check-112456190.html

Wow at that bar graph.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2811055/One-four-British-children-living-poverty-six-years-Great-Recession-reveals-damning-Unicef-report.html