Countries seeking to make massive changes in the way their economies are run, for example by privatising formerly state-run sectors, must take into account the potential impact of such changes on people's health, experts warn today.

Government insurance programs that safeguard bank deposits should be reformed to ease taxpayers’ undue stake in propping up the nation’s banking system, according to research by a University of Illinois finance professor.

The worldwide financial crisis puts a new emphasis on infrastructure spending, seen by many governments as a way to head off economic downturn, and as a way of holding on to achievements made in the developing world.

The combined impact of low economic growth and decreased investments in agriculture could cause major increases in malnutrition in developing countries, according to new analysis by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The result could be 16 million more undernourished children in 2020.

Spain has launched a €11 billion stimulus plan, which aims to boost the weakening economy and create 300,000 jobs. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Prime Minister of Spain, says that the money will be spent mostly in infrastructure and public works.

Riots take place in Iceland today due to the current financial crisis. People have gone on the streets of Reykjavik revolting against the financial crisis, corrupt ministers and he authorities who caused it.

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist has sent a letter and formal application to the Treasury Department requesting $700 billion from the TARP Capital Purchase Program to fund the following tax cuts:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson opposes a plan by Democrats to use some of the $700 billion financial rescue package to bailout the auto industry and troubled homeowners.

Japan is offering to lend up to $100 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help nations hit hard by the global financial crisis.

The European Union says 15 nations that use the euro as their currency are officially in a recession, as world leaders gather in Washington to discuss the global financial crisis. The 27-nation EU as a whole avoided the same fate only by recording zero, rather than negative, growth in the second quarter.

It's been more than a year since the U.S. housing market collapsed, triggering a banking and credit crisis that has since spread across the world. The authorities have taken unprecedented measures to try and cushion the blow - including $4.6 trillion in bank rescues and fiscal spending, and coordinated interest-rate cuts from the world's major central banks.

It appears to be back to business as usual for Brussels and Moscow, even if the two sides continue to disagree about the fine print. A senior EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity this week in Brussels, was adamant that the EU-Russia summit did not equal a return to the sides' former relationship.