Reasons to be cheerful as we welcome 2014

[Geee]

UK Telegraph:

Pessimists have an aura of wisdom; optimists risk looking naive. There is a natural temptation to err towards gloom when surveying the prospects for a new year, especially when the centenary of global catastrophe provides a reminder of the perils of cheerfulness. Yet there are good reasons to believe that the world turned a corner of sorts in 2013 and most of our fellow human beings will probably become safer and more prosperous in 2014.

Twelve months ago, America was deep in a malaise of its own making, wrestling with a stagnant economy, spiralling debt and gridlocked politics. Today, the innovative dynamism that has always been the superpower’s most salient characteristic is showing through once more: nine of the world’s 10 biggest companies are American again (in 2009, the figure was only three) and economic recovery is finally cleaning up the fiscal mess. Last year, this newspaper identified public debt of 103 per cent of gross domestic product as the single greatest threat to America’s pre-eminence. At the start of 2014, the tide has turned and the burden has fallen to 99 per cent – not a huge reduction, but not bad either given that hundreds of billions of dollars are involved.

True, America’s politicians deserve little praise: President Barack Obama and his opponents in Congress are paralysed by partisanship. Instead, the entrepreneurial zeal of US business and the success of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve have driven this recovery. But the upshot is clear: one way or another, America will probably contribute more than China to global economic growth in 2014.

[Valin]