With the failed $700bn bail-out plan in the US, we can expect the recession to hit some (many?) countries really fast and very soon. Economists define recession as two straight quarters of economic decline. A quarter here means 3 months. The US share market, Dow Jones plunged 770 points or 6.9% of its value on the 29th September, its biggest drop in a day ever recorded. Although since then it has rebounded slightly, somewhat. The ripple-to-tsunami effect of this can be felt elsewhere including the drop of oil prices below $100 per barrel and of course stock markets in many parts of the world. As they say, “When US sneezes, the world catches a cold.”
