The latest data from the Conference Board showed that consumer confidence rose slightly in October but it still remains near historically low levels. The group reported that its index of consumer attitudes rose to 50.2 in October from a revised 48.6 in September. Meantime, the median of 72 forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters was for a reading of 49.2. Forecasts ranged from 45.0 to 53.0. The expectations index rose to 67.8 in October from 65.5 last month. The present situation index increased to 23.9 from 23.3.

In addition to the official Consumer Price Index which provides a monthly measure of inflation based on data collected by more traditional means users may soon be able to track the Google Price Index that compiles inflation statistics using data pulled solely from online sources. According to the Financial Times reports Google chief economist Hal Varian recently unveiled his Google Price Index project at the National Association of Business Economists conference in Denver, Colorado – though he said the company has yet to decide when or if to publish it.

As claims billionaire investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, US needs to stop printing money and take on austerity measures like the Europeans did to let the economy recover. 

Citigroup has lowered its full-year global growth forecasts for 2010 and 2011, releasing its strategy report Thursday. Besides, the bank also cut its outlook for China’s 2010 economic expansion by 1%.

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, alerts US economy will face the new wave of recession in the second half of next year. "There is a significant chance that the number will be in the negative range." So, Stiglitz urged the government to prepare a second stimulus package to spur job creation.

According to senior central bank researcher’s Monday statement, as money supply growth accelerated over the recent months China's economy is on the verge of overheating again. Jiao Jinpu sees the rapid rise in the more narrow measure of money supply, M1, in recent months as an indication that money is flowing at a faster pace. That measure grew 34.6% in November from a year earlier, compared with 29.7% for the broad M2 measure.

 According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll most of American people believe the nation has the wrong direction in its development. Asked if things in the U.S. are generally headed in the right direction or are off on the wrong track, 52% said they were off on the wrong track. 36% of the respondents said the country was headed in the right direction.

Ex- FDIC Chairman Bill Isaac said that banks in the US will continue to crash at a steady rate over the next two years which not necessarily means a bad thing for the economy, reported CNBC. Isaac told that there remains a large amount of contagion in the system that needs to be removed.

According to the Office for National Statistics data, Britain's economy slumped more than twice as fast as it had been forecasted in the second quarter, marking the biggest annual fall since comparable records began in 1955. UK’s GDP, thus, lost 0.8% during the quarter, taking the annual decline to 5.6%, against expected 0.3% decline after a hefty 2.4% drop in the first quarter.The economy has now declined for five consecutive quarters with a cumulative decline of 5.7%. 

On Sunday addressing an audience at Shanghai's Fudan University George Soros said that the influence of China is yet to grow faster than most people think with its isolation from the global financial system and a heavy state role in banking aiding a relatively swift economic recovery."In many ways, Chinese banking has benefited from being isolated from the rest of the world and is in better shape than the international banking system," he told. 

Japanese current-account surplus decreased by 54.5% in April as compared with the previous year, the Ministry of Finance said Monday. The figure fell more than expected while exports slowed their decrease.According to the latest data the current-account surplus, the broadest measure of Japan's trade with the rest of the world, made up 630.5 billion yen ($6.38 billion) in April which is much lower than the figure of the 806.6 billion yen surplus predicted by a Dow Jones Newswires and Nikkei survey of analysts.

A Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report released by the Central Bank Governance group said that central banks across the globe will need more power to control banks if they intend to play a substantial role in supporting financial stability in the post-crisis world. The report encouraged central banks to consider such issues as the structures of the policymaking bodies, their independence, voting habits and finances as their role evolves.

On Sunday finance and aid ministers from the 185 member countries of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund called on rich states to provide aid to the poorer states as more nations are plunging into the poverty falling victims to the financial crisis. The ministers also said that it might be necessary to raise more resources for the World Bank if the economic turmoil aggravates.

As the Heavens Empire takes its own steps to prevent a tremendous collapse in case of the dollar’s failure Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher assures American society that China will unlikely do anything to hurt the U.S. interests. On Tuesday Fisher noted that the fate of the two economic giants was closely entwined, reports Reuters.

According to the figures provided by the Chinese central bank by the end of March its foreign exchange reserves increased by 16% to $1.9537 trillion on a year-over-year basis. In a notice on its website the bank said that China’s reserves rose by $7.7 billion in the first quarter which is $146.2 billion less than the same period last year.