NEW YORK, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Stock markets from Europe to Asia headed lower despite a $787 billion U.S. stimulus package, which came amidst rampant signs of a global downturn.
Japan's economy is in its sharpest decline in 35 years, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. In China, the economy has slowed sharply to a growth rate of 6.8 percent from double-digit growth in previous years. Germany's economy is at its slowest pace in 20 years. Ukraine, economists warn, may be headed for a national default.
"Most Western developed economies are going to see the deepest downturn they've seen in a number of decades, in some cases possibly since the Second World War," said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics.
In the United States Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 300 points. In Europe, the DAX index slipped 3.4 percent, while FTSE index fell 2.4 percent. In Asia, the Nikkei in Japan slid 1.4 percent Tuesday.
"Today, the house is burning ... so we have to act as firefighters," International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in France.
