Markets Tumble

9:10 AM, January 21, 2008

LONDON (AP) -- European and Asian stock markets plunged Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. government's stimulus plan to prevent a recession.

The U.K. benchmark FTSE-100 dropped 3.9 percent to 5,673.1; France's CAC-40 Index plunged 4.5 percent to 4,861.2, while Germany's slumped 5.35 percent to 6,922.7. In Asia, India's benchmark stock index tumbled 7.4 percent, while Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng index plummeted 5.5 percent to 23,818.86, its biggest percentage drop since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Investors dumped shares because they were skeptical that an economic stimulus plan President George W. Bush announced Friday would shore up the economy that has been battered by problems in its housing and credit markets. The plan, which requires approval by Congress, calls for about $145 billion worth of tax relief to encourage consumer spending.

"It's another horrible day," said Francis Lun, a general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. "Today it's because of disappointment that the U.S. stimulus (package) is too little, too late and investors feel it won't help the economy recover."


February 26, 2007, Dartmouth University

Likely presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, warned of an impending collapse of the U.S. economy during a fireside chat at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity Saturday…Paul used the chat as an opportunity to warn the audience about what he called the “grave state” of the American economy. According to Paul, Congress simply does not have enough revenue to finance the government’s programs, and is forced to borrow and use the Federal Reserve to print enough money to keep the government afloat. “If we collected all the taxes we needed today, our system would collapse.” Paul said. “We delay payment to delay the crash. We borrow almost three billion a day to pay for what we have created… There are two parties in Congress right now,” Paul said. “Big government conservatives and big government liberals. The only difference is what they want to spend money on.”