U.S. retail sales signal rise in demand; inflation tame

Retail sales are showing very positive growth.  They are signaling a continuing strength of growth in the economy at this time.  They are taking over for the housing market which is slacking off.  Another positive for growth is that inflation is remaining low enough that the U.S. Treasury can continue its bond buying stimulus.  That is good for the economy because that allows them to keep interest rates and other monetary controls at low levels to continue to assist growth.

It is a very good thing that the U.S. Treasury is able to keep assisting the economy.  The U.S. economy needs to get back on track so that it becomes less of an issue for everyone.  Having the U.S. economy back to normal would really help to get the rest of the world on track.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/20/us-retail-sales-idUSBRE9AJ0NX20131120

U.K. Disinflation No Risk as Swap Gap Widens to Record

The U.K. is once again benefitting form the fact that they decided not to begin to use the Euro.  It would appear that they will not be hurt by the fact that disinflation is harming the Euro Zone.  The Euro is still falling, however, the economy in the U.K. is going strong.  The inflation rate is rising at a little above their targeted 2%.  This has been the case since 2009. 

This is why the U.K. is so smart for deciding not to join the economic EU and not use the Euro.  They were the smartest country in Europe for avoiding that.  The Euro Zone is a bad idea because there is no central control that can make them do things that are necessary. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-19/disinflation-no-risk-as-swap-gap-widens-to-record-u-k-credit.html

Canada Dollar Declines on Concern U.S. Adds to Economic Slowing

Canada's inflation rate is still low because of worry over the conditions of the U.S. government shutdown. The value of the Canadian dollar rose compared to the American dollar because of worry over the Federal Reserve's reaction.  They were worried that they would roll back the tapering of the bond buying program.  It also declined against most of the 16 other countries it is compared to.  The Canadian Central bank also was forced to maintain most of its policies because its inflation is too low for them to try and get things back to normal.

It think that Canada is alternately lucky and unlucky to be the U.S.'s northern neighbor.  They often have the bad luck of being hurt by economic downturn in the U.S.  They get the positives as well but they are very much tied to how well the U.S. is doing because the U.S. is their largest trading partner.
 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-19/canada-dollar-declines-on-concern-u-s-adds-to-economic-slowing.html

Falling inflation another headache for ECB

Inflation falling is causing many problems in the Euro Zone.  Due to the falling inflation rate many people are holding on to their money as opposed to investing.  They are doing this because they want to be able to buy goods at lower prices.  they are also waiting for their money to be worth more so that they get more money "for free."  The European Central bank is trying to hold off these problems with various tools but they are failing to make a true difference. 

This is why the Euro Zone is a major failure.  It is a nice idea to have the various countries attempt to create one economic zone that is more powerful like the U.S.  However it does not work when there is no central power that can force the other countries to do what they need to do.  Because of that one countries failings bring down the others and hurt countries that have been fiscally responsible. 

http://news.yahoo.com/falling-inflation-another-headache-ecb-142804299--finance.html