The fundamental shift in the US and global economies is expected to continue for an extended period with the traditional banks in the US likely to benefit, according to DICK BOVE, chief financial strategist at ODEON CAPITAL GROUP. The changes underway are expected to firmly reorient the US economy towards solid business operations rather than than on the consumer. "If true, this shift will adjust fund flows; labor structure; and investment opportunities," notes BOVE in his latest report on the long-term outlook for banks. "Banks will be one of the beneficiaries." BOVE has concluded that the kind of business model constructed in the early 1990s that guided the US economy, "has been harmful in multiple fashions."

The CONVERSATION opens with a closer look at the latest numbers from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. MAT VAN ALSTYNE, ODEON co-founder and managing partner, sees telling signs of a decline in the quality of the labor markets. The unemployment rate in December dropped to 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent. Job growth in December slowed to 223,000 jobs, a two-year low. Joining the CONVERSATION is JOHN AIDAN BYRNE who raises questions about the future of the EU as a political and economic bloc.

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