You'd be excused for being a pessimist of late, as nearly all of the world's biggest economies are suffering from one ailment or another.
Europe has yet to emerge from the global financial crisis as well as its own sovereign debt crisis. Analysts and commentators have even begun to speculate that the continent's central bank may explore the use of quantitative easing, an extraordinary type of monetary policy aimed at lowering long-term interest rates, at the beginning of next year to jump-start inflation and employment.
Meanwhile, Japan has officially dipped back into recession despite the herculean efforts of its current administration to spur economic activity through a robust combination of fiscal stimulus, monetary easing, and structural reforms.
And in China, where nonperforming bank loans are at a five-year high, the government recently announced the decision to enact deposit insurance akin to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. While the move will increase confidence in the sanctity of savings accounts, there are also fears that it could trigger a liquidity crisis at smaller banks if depositors take it as a sign that the central government will no longer provide a blanket protection over all bank liabilities.
To learn more about these issues, check out the following video, in which Motley Fool analysts John Maxfield and Michael Douglass touch on each one.
