IMF: America In Recession

April 9. 2008

Today, the International Monetary Fund is expressing concern regarding the ailing U.S. economy and the worldwide impact it could have on other nations.

They are right to be concerned. Banks in countries like France, Germany and Switzerland underwrote some of the loans that the unregulated U.S. banking industry botched, mostly via abruptly changing payment amounts to figures unreachable by millions of Americans. Coupled with the war driving up the cost of just about everything, it produced the crisis we see today.

I really wonder how the banks thought this would work. Where were Americans to get the money from to meet the terrible terms that were laid out to so many people. Millions of Americans were facing conundrums they shouldn't have been.

If you have a secretary bringing in $2,000 per month, and you out of nowhere decide her mortgage payment that was $700 per month for years, should now be $1500 per month, exactly how do you expect her to pay the mortgage and make ends meet, especially with rising gas, food and electricity costs. With gas and food costing people at least $100 per week, do the math on that one.

Many people were faced with a terrible choice because the banks got greedy:

a). eat, pay for light, water, cable, car, car insurance and gas, but lose your house you worked for and get a cheap apartment.

-or-

b). keep the house with the unethically inflated mortgage payment, don't eat, live without electricity, water, car, car insurance and gas. Living in the dark without water and walking everywhere isn't so bad (not!).

Which would you choose?

IMF makes a mockery of Darling's optimistic forecast with gloomy outlook for UK and world economy

Last updated at 18:59pm on 9th April 2008

The world is facing the biggest financial shock since the Great Depression, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

In its most startling report of modern times the IMF says that the meltdown on financial markets "has inflicted heavy damage on markets and the financial institutions at the core of the financial system."

For the first time the IMF predicts that the American economy is heading for recession and will shrink by 0.7pc this year sending shock waves across the globe.

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