On one hand, we have billionaire financier George Soros saying that all the stimulus packages are starting work and that the financial crisis is easing. He predicts that Asia will be the first to emerge out of the crisis, and that China will overtake the United States as the world's growth engine.

Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz has a slightly different take. In this piece , Stiglitz says the bottom might be near but we are a long way off from having a robust recovery and that we can expect more losses. "The American government ... is betting on muddling through: the Fed's measures and government guarantees mean that banks have access to low-cost funds, and lending rates are high. If nothing nasty happens - losses on mortgages, commercial real estate, business loans, and credit cards - the banks might just be able to make it through without another crisis. In a few years time, the banks will be recapitalised, and the economy will return to normal. This is the rosy scenario. But experiences around the world suggest that this is a risky outlook. Even were banks healthy, the deleveraging process and the associated loss of wealth means that, more likely than not, the economy will be weak. And a weak economy means, more likely than not, more bank losses."

Stiglitz says harsh medicine in the form of a debt for equity swap, where bond holders basically cancel their debt in exchange for equity in the banks, is the only solution although that's likely to be met with howls of derision from bond holders seeking more money from the US taxpayers.

Every recession has to end. The question is how long and deep this one is going to be. At this stage, there are no certain bets.