We are now beginning to see some signs of economic recovery, but growth in the United States and other advanced countries will be slow well into 2010. There has been a flurry of policies, proposed reforms, and fiscal and monetary actions in an attempt to put the economy back on stable ground and quell the financial crisis and the deepest recession since the Great Depression. But debate continues over whether we have seen the bottom, or what type of recovery we can expect.

You may have noticed that questions about the strength of the recovery have been summed up in the press in terms of a kind of alphabet soup. The best outcome would have a “V” shape, meaning a brisk rebound from the bottom. But this outcome is far from certain.

In a pair of Wall Street Journal articles in mid-2007, Kelly Greene described the advantages of returning the Social Security benefits a person had already received—then reapplying for higher benefits at age 70. Her discussion focused on people who had filed early for benefits, with 62 the earliest possible age to file.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased at an annual rate of less than 1 percent in September over August, according to data released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the CPI is still 1.3 percent lower compared to a year ago. This was the seventh month of year-over-year price deflation. In other words, the purchasing power of the dollar is higher now than it was a year ago. Lower energy prices and transportation prices, compared to a year earlier, are primarily responsible for the trend.

There will be no cost-of-living increase in Social Security payments this January.

This is a big change from last January, when Social Security payments increased 5.8 percent. That increase was much higher than the last year's annual inflation rate of 3.8 percent. This difference came about because of the sharp swings in the prices during 2008. When prices change sharply, it matters when, within the year, the change in the price index is computed.

“Nothing but the best for Grandma,” as long as someone else is paying the bill.

As Congress closes in on the final form of the new law, the national debate over health care has shifted from how to improve care or cut costs to how to extend health insurance to all.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that the Social Security Administration will experience a cash-deficit in 2010 and 2011, a first since the 1980s.

Both a flood of new retirees and declining tax revenues have brought on this sudden deficit. As a result of declining employment prospects, workers nearing retirement have been forced to claim Social Security benefits earlier than anticipated. New retiree applications are up 23 percent, an increase of 400,000 since last year. Even disability claims are up 20 percent.

The federal government and the Federal Reserve are attempting to reverse the current economic downturn with aggressive fiscal deficits and severely reduced interest rates. Nearly 20 years ago, Japan tried the same approach, but with scant success. What happened in Japan’s “lost decade” provides an insight into what Americans may expect in the coming years.

Gold has no official monetary role, but central banks and individuals hold it for good reason. It serves as a store of value, a means of investment diversification, and protection from economic or political crises.

One of the more baffling quirks of the federal tax code is the different treatment of health insurance premiums, depending on who pays them. When an employer pays the premium, the cost is deductible as a business expense, and is also excluded from the employee’s taxable income. However, when a person buys an insurance policy through the individual insurance market, the premium costs are generally not deductible from his income. This means that employer-based health insurance receives a tax break that is not available to individual buyers. It is one of the factors that drive our employer-based private health insurance system, and also makes insurance more expensive, on an after-tax basis, to individual buyers.

There is some truth to the often-repeated claim that the current recession is the worst in a generation. Many adults in the labor force today may not remember another significant downturn.