Is the US Leading the Way to a Global Recession?

Making News

Mugabe Snubs an Emergency Regional Summit ()

The opposition to Zimbabwe's President has called for a general strike starting on Tuesday. Robert Mugabe says he won't attend a much-awaited summit with other African leaders. He's banned all political rallies, and human rights groups report that he's launched a campaign of systematic violence. Craig Timberg is Johannesburg Bureau Chief for the Washington Post, just home after three weeks in Zimbabwe.

Guests:

• Craig Timberg: Johannesburg Bureau Chief, Washington Post

Links:

• Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on recent events in Zimbabwe

Main Topic

Is the US Leading the Way to a Global Recession? ()

The International Monetary Fund says America's financial crisis is so bad it will damage the rest of the world -- except for the Middle East and Asia. This as finance ministers from the major industrialized countries have gathered in Washington to figure out what to do. Not everybody's as pessimistic as the IMF, but nobody doubts that there's trouble ahead. Is the global economy faced with another Great Depression? How worried should Americans be? What should be done, and will there be winners as well as losers, both at home and abroad?

Guests:

• Simon Johnson: Chief Economist, International Monetary Fund
• David Malpass: Chief Economist, Bear Stearns
• Desmond Lachman: Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
• Bill Emmott: former Editor, The Economist

Links:

• Emmott's 'Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade'
• Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers (March, 2008)
• Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (2008)

Reporter's Notebook

The Pirates of Somalia ()

Off the coast of Somalia today, French troops captures six pirates after they released 30 hostages who'd been held on a tourist yacht. France claims no public money was used to pay ransom, but the boat's owners may have handed over some money. Daniel Sekulich, who formerly worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, is author of Ocean Titans: Journeys in Search of the Soul of a Ship.

Guests:

• Daniel Sekulich: author, 'Ocean Titans'