US unemployment & inflation rates

US unemployment (by all measures) are still higher than pre-recession levels and inflation are way lower, so is there any good reason for Fed to hike? Rather opposite: to postpone hikes to later date

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Inlation, Disinflation & Industrial Production

Disinflationary trend in developed economies, started about 2011, continues. As latest World Bank's Data shows, inflation in developed world in December was at lowest levels since 2008-2009 financial crisis and its clearly going to enter the deflation zone soon. But industrial production, in general, keeps growing, though at a slower pace. In some countries the picture is quite different. E. g., stagflation environment (industrial production contraction accompanied by high inflation rate) can be noticed in India, Indonesia, Brazil & Russia last months. Also, Japan somewhat stagflationary. Recent developments of situation in Ukraine looks like catastrophe (double-digits contraction in industrial production).

Debt saga continues. Eurozone government debt levels forecast

Since the new year Lithuania adopted Euro currency and became a full member of the European Monetary Union. And one of the few EMU countries that fully meet the Maastricht criteria in terms of debt level and budget deficit (national public debt not exceeding 60% of GDP and national budget deficit at or below 3% of GDP. See the history of these indicators among EMU countries on the animated bubble chart). Paradoxically, since the beginning of European debt crisis, indebtness of most countries has increased. Only Germany was able to reduce its level of debt since 2010.

Whether the last efforts of ECB and European political authorities will be enough to resolve this situation in the future? Look at the IMF projections to 2019