Bill Bonner, c0-author of The New Empire of Debt and daily columnist for The Daily Reckoning, UK Edition, offers his analysis on the state of the global economy.

David Stevenson, Associate Editor at MoneyWeek, UK, offers his analysis of the current state of British Banks and the implications for the global economy for the next few years.

Baltimore — (TFN): It’s like pulling off a Band-Aid. We can do it quick and get the pain over with, or we can torture ourselves with slow, steady, hair-ripping pulls that make us want to gouge our eyes out in pain.

Since I first scraped my knee chasing the neighbor’s cat across the street dozens of years ago, I have been a fan of the get-it-over-fast strategy. Rip the stitches, dry the tears and move on. Dilly-dallying is for sissies and I’m no sissy.

Rob Parenteau, currency and credit markets expert, and editor of The Richebacher letter, analyzes the current state of the economy, as represented by retail sales. Can retail really drive the recovery?

Keith Fitz-Gerald (Money Morning):
With all the financial woes in the global economy, the worst thing an investor can do is to “freeze up.” With all the ups and downs in the market, it’s all too easy for investors to allow their emotions to take control. That’s when the smallest mistakes turn into the biggest mistakes.

Baltimore (TFN): The Fed is meeting today. And I ask who cares? At this point, Bernanke and his troupe of politicians masquerading as economists are in so far over their heads, no matter what they do or say, you can bet the move is designed to protect their butts, not yours.

The U.S. dollar slid to a 1-year low against the euro on Tuesday near $1.48 as deteriorating sentiment on the U.S. currency encouraged selling ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting and Group of 20 summit this week.

The press attributed this week’s rise in gold to benign causes. The end of the world seems to have been postponed – indefinitely. Bloomberg reported that a clear majority of those polled thought the world economy was recovering.

U.S. crude oil fell over 3 percent to below $70 a barrel on Friday as U.S. equities struggled for traction and raised fears about the economy and a recovery in energy demand.

The dollar edged up against the euro and yen on Monday in extremely thin trade as Wall Street surrendered earlier gains and traders repositioned themselves ahead of U.S. consumer and housing data due this week.