First, it addresses the question of whether rising house prices in the U.S. fuelled consumption through equity-extraction-financed spending.

FORBES: Home Equity Extraction: Where Did All The Money Go?

It has dramatically raised disposable incomes for the poorest without placing extra burdens on the rich, spreading social equity while boosting consumption and bolstering the banking system.

ECONOMIST: Iran's bold economic reform

Positive political surprises could be the impetus for idle cash to begin creating a virtuous cycle of more jobs and higher equity returns begetting consumption and even greater job creation.

FORBES: Despite Investors' Denial, The U.S. Economy Is Getting Better

Even though the prospects for increased consumption in the immediate future are not particularly good, the Chinese equity markets could make a limited recovery this year due to government policies to boost the economy.

FORBES: China Bull Loses Fortune, Stays Bullish

Warburg Pincus has also made investments in China's logistics sector, which the private-equity company sees as a way to benefit from rising domestic consumption.

WSJ: Investors Target Logistics Property in China

Higher taxes on capital gains and dividends, abstracting from issues of equity and fairness, reduce real economic growth, cause weaker consumption and decreases in business capital spending, reduce employment, and labor force growth, and help bring about less potential output.

FORBES: The Horrific Accident Awaiting Us Over The Fiscal Cliff

Key themes of SD in the region include among other things poverty alleviation, citizenship, peace, ethics, responsibility in local and global contexts, democracy and governance, justice, security, human rights, health, gender equity, cultural diversity, rural and urban development, economy, production and consumption patterns, corporate social responsibility, environmental protection, climate change, prevention and adaptation, natural resource management, biological and landscape diversity.

UNESCO: Education

Layoffs would slow and consumption resume if the Fed sped its asset purchases and Washington stopped imposing arbitrarily low prices on equity holders and regulatory capital in the blind assumption that crisis markets are accurately priced.

FORBES: Crisis Rules