It is not over as yet.

Industrial production in Germany, the largest economy in the Eurozone shrank by 4% from July to August. On the other hand the British economy is set to grow by 3.2% this year and the US posted strong growth in the second quarter. The jobless rate in the US fell to 5.9%, leading to a rise in 10 year bond yields, in expectation of a rise in interest rates next year. At the moment the 2 Anglo-Saxon countries are crowing about the superiority of their loose monetary policies, including their bond-buying programs, over the tight austerity imposed over Europe by Germany but the issue has not been settled as yet. We are not told as to what happened to the excess money that the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England poured into the market. Has the money gone into productive investment resulting in paid employment or has it gone into non-productive assets such as stocks and real estate? Stock markets have reached record levels globally, as also in India. Property prices in the UK have reached record levels and prices in the US are beginning to cool off a bit after rising fast in the last 2 years. Just as the politicians of India keep on whining about high interest rates so an MP in Britain has warned about ' a catastrophe ' for families if interest rates were to rise. If the record prices of shares and real estate are a sign of economic recovery why then are discount stores in Britain cutting prices to attract customers? Why are there so many poor people who cannot even afford to shop at discount stores? Could it be because of stringent cuts in social security payments by the Conservative government while it has poured billions of pounds of taxpayer money to save banks from bankruptcy which is allowing bankers to pay themselves huge bonuses once again? Lazy Indian journalists, sitting in their air-conditioned offices, pontificate about how corruption in India is endemic because the people themselves are so corrupt that they knowingly vote for corrupt politicians for narrow gains and are prepared to bribe officials to get their own work done at the expense of others. The reason is that life is a struggle for survival for the vast majority of Indians. In western countries the peace of knowing that you will not starve because of the social security net makes people more honest, but that maybe changing as these payments are cut. Also people are able to spend more by saving less which increases demand and stimulates growth. However one thing leads to another. The dollar is becoming stronger which will make US exports more expensive and increase imports, thus worsening the balance of payments. If Russia refuses to supply gas to Ukraine this winter it may turn off gas to Europe. We do not know what is going to happen because politicians are equally ignorant.