Square Root Jobless Recovery - Doug Galland -  ... First comes the economic downturn, then the official “recession” moniker is bestowed, followed by endless debate on the alphabet soup of recovery possibilities: will it be “V” shaped or “W,” or “L,” or “U?” Recently the idea of a square-root-shaped recovery was offered by an economist ... We offer a different interpretation; it is the right shape applied to the wrong metric. Today’s chart supports the oxymoronic-dubbed “jobless recovery” theory garnering a lot of attention lately. But without job growth, and lots of it, there will be no recovery regardless of its shape. Welcome to the square-root-shaped job market. ... Casey's Daily Dispatch

------------

Michigan Has Been In Recession For Six Years, And Now Even They're Snapping Back - Vincent Fernando, CFA - ... One of the greatest errors one can make is to judge the state of the U.S. economy based on your immediate surroundings. The U.S. is an enormous and diverse country. Someone sitting in Michigan over the last few years had a very clear view of their local economy, but a horribly distorted view of the national economy.  Yet even for Michigan, things could now be changing. - Money Game at Business Insider

------------

The Deflation Club - By Vincent R. Reinhart - Declining inflation, veering into outright price declines (or deflation) in some countries, continues to be a major risk to the global economy. - The American
------------

Peaking out - 12 Charts On The Amazing History Of Human Economic Development - Gus Lubin - A Swedish doctoral thesis on the "acceleration of human enterprise" written by Dana Cordell offers an awesome glimpse into the history of human economic development and its effects on the world. The vast majority of wealth, tourism, fertilizer use, etc. all took place in the past fifty years -- and human enterprise is still increasing.  That's why we're facing a water crisis, oil crisis, and a debt crisis. - Money Game at Business Insider

------------

Foreign Oil Dependency by U.S. President - Mark Perry - Carpe Diem Blog 
(who was president does not matter - the trend does.)
------------

Consumer confidence is still very low, and that is good - Scott Grannis - ... As a contrarian and as a bull on the prospects for the equity market, I take a good measure of comfort from this. I don't see how equities could be overvalued in an environment that is chock-full of worries and perceived risks. ... - Calafia Beach Pundit