The aftershocks of the economic crisis triggered by the 2008 bankruptcy of the financial services firm Lehman Brothers Holdings are gradually fading. The world will be watching for signs of stable global economic growth this year.
Important factors that must be taken into consideration include whether the United States can successfully wind down its quantitative monetary easing, which has lasted for five years, and whether China can stabilize its economic growth by overcoming the dangers of bubbles caused by shadow banking.
U.S. economic indexes as a whole are pointing to brighter prospects. The unemployment rate, which was as high as 9 percent in September 2011, dropped to 7 percent this past November. The rate is expected to fall further to around 6.5 percent in 2014. Automobile sales are picking up and the housing market shows a sign of recovery. Japan's Cabinet Office predicts that the U.S. economy will grow about 2.5 percent this year, up from between 1.5 percent to 2 percent in 2013.