TOP STORIES

*this is code for: we are in deep doo doo, more like 2% to 4%.

World Bank: Global economy to shrink 1% to 2% in 2009
Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, said the global economy is on pace for the worst recession in nearly a century, with Central and Eastern Europe being particularly vulnerable. "My guess is that growth will probably fall about 1% to 2%," Zoellick said. "We haven't seen numbers like that since World War II, which really means the '30s. So these are serious and dangerous times." Reuters (11 Mar.)
Geithner wants G-20 to add $500 billion to IMF

*if the world's richest nations don't have any more money, read Economist sobering article below, then how can we afford to pony up?

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner proposed that the world's richest nations triple the amount of money the International Monetary Fund has available to help countries in financial trouble. He wants as much as $500 billion added to the $250 billion already in IMF coffers. Geithner's suggestion is double what the IMF requested. Financial Times (11 Mar.)

*I just don't believe it. Worthless now, maybe worth .65 on the dollar five years from now. Never what they paid for it originally.

FDIC: Taxpayers, investors to gain from troubled-asset plan
Taxpayers and investors will likely realize a "healthy" profit from the government's plan to create a public-private investment fund to purchase troubled assets from banks, said Sheila Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. "We think that that is absolutely true that the assets are worth more than the current market conditions assigned to them and so that, yes, over time, there will be significant profits from these," she said. Reuters (11 Mar.)

*The endless money pit

Freddie Mac asks for additional $30.8 billion from U.S.
Freddie Mac said its $23.9 billion fourth-quarter loss means it will have to draw an additional $30.8 billion from the U.S. Treasury, bringing the government's investment to $45.6 billion. The mortgage company warned that it will have a hard time paying the 10% dividend on the government's preferred stock. Financial Times (12 Mar.)