Most Americans continue to believe that hard work and ambition determine success. In this article Janet Yellen points out some trends in wealth and income inequality. She says that the significant income and wealth gains for those at the top have caused the gap in income between Americans. 

 According to  the authors of a study on Sweden it showed that they rank high in income mobility but they suspect that Sweden’s emphasis on high income taxes keep the self-made from accumulating lots of wealth, while very low taxes on capital keep wealth in rich families. Citizens of the U.S. have economic freedom and with that some people work hard and others don't so I think that income inequality is just a result of a nation of people having economic freedom. 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-21/american-income-inequality-hard-to-get-rich-harder-to-get-un-poor

In some left-leaning cities, middle class Americans are having a hard time affording to live there. It seems that liberal cities tend to have worse income inequality and less affordable housing than other cities. Across the country, rich, dense cities are struggling to provide affordable housing to the middle class. This is not really a surprise to me, cities have a small amount of space for housing and a large amount of people so its no surprise that the cost of living is higher in the cities where there is a high demand for housing and a limited supply of housing.

They did a study and found that liberal markets tend to have higher income inequality and worse affordability. "In 2010, UCLA economist Matthew Kahn published a study of California cities, which found that liberal metros issued fewer new housing permits. The correlation held over time: As California cities became more liberal, he said, they built fewer homes". 

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/why-are-liberal-cities-so-unaffordable/382045/

Brazil's consumer inflation in September reached its highest annual rate in almost three years. The consumer price index accelerated to its fastest monthly rate since April last month. That pushed its accumulated inflation over the past year to 6.75% the highest since October 2011. A normal rate for inflation is about 2%. With an election coming up this month its up to voters to decide if they want change. When prices rise and economic growth is stagnant inflation is bound to go up. The government failed on the economy and will leave a legacy of out of control inflation, low growth and a loss of credibility. I think that Brazil needs to elect a new president who will actually take care of the economy and try and increase economic growth. The presidents campaign promised better salaries, lower unemployment and higher living standards, but with high inflation none of those are possible. Brazil needs to focus on producing more and increasing the strength  of the economy which will in turn lower inflation. Inflation is not  the most important political issue for Brazil but if left alone it will become a big problem.









http://online.wsj.com/articles/brazil-inflation-at-highest-rate-in-almost-three-years-1412779231

When will central banks in the U.S. and U.K. start raising interest rates? The question preoccupies financial markets, and much turns on the answer. Unemployment has fallen a lot in both countries, its at about 6 percent in both countries this is  one percentage point above the rate central banks see as the long-term equilibrium. The real unemployment in the U.S. is about 7.5 due to factors like people who are unemployed and stop looking for a job are not counted as unemployed and many people who want full time work can only find part time work. These forms of disguised unemployment add maybe two percent to labor market slack. Central banks are worried about inflation. The banks need to decide whether or not to keep interest rates at zero of too raise them. I agree with the article that keeping interest rates at zero longer would be better than raising them too soon. As of right now inflation in the U.S. is under control the economy is doing all right. 










http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-10-01/inflation-panic-will-kill-the-recovery