Japan received two pieces of bad news this month: its quarterly GDP grew at the tepid rate of 0.1 percent, and it has been overtaken by China as the second largest economy in the world.

Today, results of the financial ‘stress test’ performed on 91 banks across Europe will be made public.

A lack of progress on pressing global issues after the Toronto summit is calling the effectiveness of the G20 into question.

The sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and soon America, will exert tremendous pressure on national defense budgets, resulting in a re-alignment of global military power from West to East.

The Greek sovereign debt crisis has dragged the global economy to the brink of a much-feared ‘double dip’. But, is it merely a precursor to a similar crisis unfolding in America?

Despite an announcement of a massive bailout, the future of the Greek economy- and by extension the entire euro zone as well- is now more at risk than ever.

Last week’s BRIC countries summit in Brasilia witnessed the beginning of what will surely become a trend over the next few decades: BRIC coordination against the United States on important issues in international society.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s recent announcement that the US is postponing its official report on China’s currency is being hailed in the mainstream media as a diplomatic reprieve to entice Beijing to revalue its yuan (renminbi) and normalize bilateral trade.

Although the dust hasn’t even settled from last month’s Euro financial crisis in the PIGS countries, another sovereign wealth shock may be just around the corner.

The financial crisis that began in Greece last month and spread to other ‘PIGS’ countries (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) is raising old doubts about the long-term viability of the EU’s monetary union.