Well. All the economic ill that you have cited are true. I am surprised to hear the Pension Crisis of Japan though. Japan's government debt is huge but its economy is robust enough to handle that -- just tax more.

About VIX, the economy will be in full swing in the expansion mode soon. The economic down turn originated on 2008 had lasted almost 4 years. That is a long time for the depression stage of economic cycle. Recovery has been noticed everywhere. Employment figure is the last one to show recovery since it is a lagging factor in economic cycle.

Stock market tends to lead the economic recovery by a few month. If the recent high of stock indices are any indication, I would guess that 2013 will be the year of economic expansion -- at least in the US.

I am not sure how EU will work. Their austerity measure artificially prolongs the economic depression and may last a bit longer.