Hao Li

Former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer said he can't convince Americans that their government's choice to get this economy moving again is to debase its currency, so [they] need another currency, namely gold.

New York Fed President William Dudley said loose monetary policy from the Federal Reserve was not the chief cause of the subprime mortgage crisis.

William Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve, downplayed the charge that the Federal Reserve is monetizing U.S. government debt. The Fed is accused of doing so because it is engaged in quantitative easing.

Prominent hedge funds loaded up on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares in third quarter 2010, according to SEC 13F filings.

WTO director-general Pascal Lamy said statements from G20 and APEC leaders last week “provided a clear signal that they expect the Doha Development Round to be a deliverable next year.”

The World Bank, through the MIGA, significantly expanded the eligible pool of projects it would guarantee for private foreign companies investing in projects in developing countries.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis is flaring up again and Ireland, the center of focus this time around, is pushed closer to needing a bailout.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick is the most high-profile person in recent history to bring up the gold standard. However, his endorsement was almost universally dismissed as too archaic and impractical.

U.S. economic policy is stuck in the pre-1970s era, which had higher population growth. Before 2008, this outdated policy caused boom-and-bust cycles. Now, it is failing to boost economic growth and possibly endangering the world financial system.

Dumb money is beginning to pour into gold. However, gold fever has not yet taken over the public imagination and there are still many potential buyers on the sidelines. The rally is therefore likely to continue.

On Friday at the G20 summit, finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Britain issued a joint statement saying the holders of any existing euro zone government debt are safe from regulatory changes that would force them to take on additional losses.

The much anticipated, talked about, and at times criticized program of the second round of quantitative easing has begun.

Stocks, through quantitative easing, are pushed higher and into bubble territory. In a few years, the market could crash and fall as much as 50 percent, said Jeremy Grantham of GMO LLC.

Jim Cramer, a financial pundit and former hedge fund manager, said the best way of making money off the G20 Seoul summit is betting it won't go well. And one bets against the summit by buying gold, he said.

The global currency war will likely dominate discussions at the G20 Seoul summit. Other issues on the agenda include global financial regulation, development gaps, and dealing with disruptive capital inflow and outflows.

Experts at PIMCO, which has the world's largest bond fund, said inflation is a medium and long term concern and investors should therefore consider purchasing more inflation-sensitive assets.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a bipartisan commission recently created by President Obama, unveiled a proposal that could save the U.S. government nearly $4 trillion from 2012 to 2020.

Two things are always present at G20 summits: the gathering of the most powerful international elites and the gathering of common citizens and workers to protests against them.

To the dismay of policy makers, the newly-printed dollars of the Federal Reserve has not found its way to the real U.S. economy in the form of loans to small businesses and consumers. A key question is if they are sitting in the U.S. financial system or flowing to emerging market economies.

QE2 is a rising tide that lifts all boats. The boats, in this case, refers to asset prices. Unfortunately, some asset rallies, particularly those in consumer and industrial commodities, are bad for the real economy,

Peripheral Europe faces waning public demand because of austerity measures, conditions that make exports difficult, and a banking sector that has not recovered well from the financial crisis. All this comes at a time when recovery is still fragile and the risks of a double-dip recession are real.

The United States, which has not yet been punished by bond vigilantes for its enormous public debt, is keeping fiscal stimulus policies intact for the short-term. While many economists support this decision, the key question is if it will be able to enact necessary fiscal austerity measures in the future.

China has had a near-monopoly on the production of rare earth metals for years. Recently, however, its market dominance has taken center stage and the West is increasingly expressing concerns.

Behind the scenes, China and the U.S., two major combatants, may already have already struck an agreement, said Douglas Borthwick, head trader of Connecticut-based Faros Trading.

Xi Jinping will likely be China's next President. Given his background, he is likely to favor coastal regions and continue China's export-driven economic model, and therefore unlikely to pursue structural reforms like distributing income to inner regions or taking dramatic steps to cultivate domestic consumption.

Hans-Werner Sinn, a professor at the University of Munich and the president of the Ifo Institute, has a controversial theory of why the U.S. is all of sudden crying for yuan appreciation.

China's monopoly on rare earth metals gives it an important diplomatic advantage over other countries.

Global demand is increasingly shifting to emerging economies, and American firms, especially small businesses, should adjust to this new reality.

Analysts generally think BOJ's intervention was well executed and will perhaps work in the short-run. The long-term effectiveness, however, is uncertain.