MSM: Japanese exports plunge nearly 50%

Japan‘s exports nearly halved last month, the biggest decline on record, as car shipments to the US and Europe plummeted.

Nissan to Cut 20,000 Jobs

HONG KONG — Nissan Motor joined Toyota, Mazda and Mitsubishi on Monday in forecasting a loss for the current financial year, and announced it was cutting 20,000 workers in one of the most aggressive cutbacks so far by a Japanese company since the start of the global downturn.

The Great Depression of the 21st Century: Collapse of the Real Economy

The financial crisis is deepening, with the risk of seriously disrupting the system of international payments.

This crisis is far more serious than the Great Depression. All major sectors of the global economy are affected. Recent reports suggest that the system of Letters of Credit as well as international shipping, which constitute the lifeline of the international trading system, are potentially in jeopardy.

The proposed bank “bailout” under the so-called Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is not a “solution” to the crisis but the “cause” of further collapse.

Warnings of deep recession as US layoffs spread coast-to-coast

Dozens of mass layoffs have been announced by American employers, both private and public, in recent days. The impact of the downturn has begun to spread well beyond the imploding financial sector and such depressed industries as automobiles, to the economy as a whole.