The United States and Europe are still recovering from the housing bubbles , but the hardest-hit U.S. states have bounced back more rapidly than Greece, Ireland, and Spain.

The U.S. election, whatever the outcome, will not eliminate the need for both parties to compromise in order to make meaningful headway on the tough economic challenges facing the country.

Differences between the U.S. and eurozone monetary unions go a long way towards accounting for how well or badly each has adjusted in the aftermath of large housing bubbles and severe financial crisis.

Coordinated policy and plain luck have propped up the eurozone, but have not decisively addressed the root cause of the euro crisis: diminished competitiveness in the periphery.

Contingent on the global economy’s resilience, economic trends in Latin America appear favorable. In the medium-term, however, a number of structural challenges persist.

After the failure of the U.S. “supercommittee”—which may mark the beginning of a multiyear impasse—it is far from clear that Washington lawmakers will be able to address the country's fiscal problems before the markets turn.

The ability of the service sector to generate growth is widely underestimated. So long as country avoid taking protective measures and harness their competitive advantages, countries should welcome larger service sectors.

Although Cannes provided the United States and the broader G20 with an opportunity to rescue Europe from its current economic turmoil, the G20 did not make the tough decisions necessary to end the Eurozone crisis.