Americans must prepare themselves for a massive collapse in the dollar as investors around the world dump their U.S. assets, a former Bank of England policymaker has warned.

LONDON, England - January 6, 2009 - The long-held assumption that U.S. assets - particularly government bonds - are a safe haven will soon be overturned as investors lose their patience with the world's biggest economy, according to Willem Buiter.

BEIJING, China - January 6, 2009 - China faces surging protests and riots in 2009 as rising unemployment stokes discontent, a state-run magazine said in a blunt warning of the hazards to Communist Party control from a sharp economic downturn.

BERLIN, Germany - January 6, 2009 - German billionaire Adolf Merckle has committed suicide after his business empire, which included interests ranging from pharmaceuticals to cement, ran into trouble in the global financial crisis, his family said Tuesday.

No turnaround until 2010 is seen as confidence drops worldwide.

SAN FRANCISCO, Kalifornia - January 4, 2009 - The outlook for the world economy has clearly worsened over the past two months, hurt by a simultaneous drop in business and consumer confidence around the globe, Olivier Blanchard, the International Monetary Fund's chief economist, said Saturday.

Publication admits that characteristics of economic slowdown resembles 1930’s.

LONDON, England - Friday, January 2, 2008 - Renowned financial publication The Economist reports that, based on the characteristics of the current financial crisis, the United States is in a Depression, not a recession.

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania - January 1, 2009 - The steel industry, having entered the recession in the best of health, is emerging as a leading indicator of what lies ahead. As steel production goes - and it is now in collapse - so will go the national economy.

MUSCAT, Oman - January 01, 2009 - Gulf Cooperation Council leaders yesterday concluded their 29th annual summit meeting in Muscat, Oman with a final approval for the creation of a single currency for the six-nation economic bloc, still targeted for 2010.