In the News: World Markets Act to Stem Economic Chaos

Leading central banks around the world enacted coordinated interest rate cuts in efforts to counter a global financial crisis. After the sixth straight day of losses in stock markets in the U.S. and amid market downturns in Europe and Asia, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and central banks in Sweden and Switzerland all cut their rates by half a percentage point. China, meanwhile, cut 27 basis points off its key interest rate. Following the Fed’s rescue effort, the British Treasury also announced its own nearly $700 billion bank bail-out, but economists fear that it won’t be enough. The International Monetary Fund’s September Global Financial Stability Report puts international losses at $1.4 trillion and says more still needs to be done to prevent worldwide recession.

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