The U.S. was the sleeper-hit of the global economy in 2013. Marked by a steady trend of GDP growth rate increases, surging stock markets, deficit reduction, and declining unemployment, the U.S. economy is brimming with short-term potential. When you include an energy boom, an entrepreneurial culture, low interest rates and the resurgence of manufacturing, you've got a recipe for continued expansion in 2014. And that expansion may no longer be so tepid: Third-quarter U.S. GDP was revised upward earlier this month from 2.8% to 3.6%. These factors, combined with the enormous scale of a $15.7 trillion GDP, portend a significant impact on the world economy in 2014.

While 2014 is the United States' oyster, beyond the short term, brooding clouds await. The threat of long-term budget deficits looms over the United States. In addition, continued political dysfunction has not only decreased the country's creditworthiness, but it's also diminished corporate confidence, a key ingredient for sustained economic growth. Finally, quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve is still a wild card. It's anyone's guess how the economy will absorb the absence of the Fed's bond buying in 2014.