Beyond fiscal stimulus and government bailouts, the economic recovery that appears under way may be based on little more than self-fulfilling prophecy.

A deep-seated anxiety about how soon the Federal Reserve will raise rates has caused the widest chasm between short- and long-dated Treasury yields in 20 years.

The global economy is heading toward a sustained recovery but given the risks of another downturn it is too soon to withdraw stimulus, International Monetary Fund Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said on Friday.

It is "not quite time yet" to raise interest rates in the U.S., Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, told CNBC Thursday.

The Bank of Japan upgraded its economic assessment on Friday, setting itself up for a confrontation with a government pressing for a policy response to deflation and a possible return to recession.

US reliance on a growing Chinese economy to continue to spur growth of the American economy could be an ill-fated notion, Bill Gross, Pimco's founder and CEO, told CNBC.

As experts debate the potential speed of the US recovery, one figure looms large but is often overlooked: nearly 1 in 5 Americans is out of work or under-employed.

Additional economic stimulus such as a payroll tax cut would boost hiring, Mike Jackson, the CEO of AutoNation, told CNBC on Thursday.

Factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region grew in November for a fourth straight month, and faster than expected, a survey showed Thursday.

A gauge of the U.S. economy's prospects rose for a seventh straight month in October to a two-year high, a private research group said on Thursday, indicating the recovery was becoming entrenched.

A British charity is pioneering the idea of reducing the country's bulging debt by encouraging people to buy gift vouchers that will be sent to the Treasury.

Federal Reserve officials on Thursday downplayed the consequences of the falling U.S. dollar, underscoring that deflation is still a threat, especially with commercial real estate prices falling.

The dollar and yen rose Thursday as a pullback in risk appetite amid declines in equity and commodity markets revived safe-haven demand for the U.S. and Japanese currencies.

On Thursday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will issue its bimonthly report on the Recovery Act, and the focus will be squarely on jobs, addressing the accuracy criticisms, while offering recommendations on how to improve the system of reporting. The GAO has determined that the overall number of jobs created or saved is not valid.

"Until you get the small business sector back on its feet and get it vibrant, you are basically knocking out about 20 percent of the GDP," said Camden Fine, president & CEO of Independent Community Bankers of America. "And it's hard to have a robust recovery if you have 20 percent of the GDP lagging."