Meredith Whitney on 60 Minutes: Expect 50+ muni bond defaults in 2011

The inflationary impact of higher energy costs can also tip the economy closer to a recession as consumers may cut back on spending when facing pain at the gasoline pump, making the Fed’s efforts of tightening monetary policy to fight price increases more difficult.

Resource availability has a crucial impact on understanding the economics of many industries. In the defense and transportation area, China is the lead country to watch because of its dominant position in many rare earth materials.