Last Ditch

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told reporters that G8 leaders are considering closing the world's financial markets while they figure out a way to fix the international financial system. According to Bloomberg.com, Berlusconi said that he and his fellow leaders are "talking about a new Bretton Woods," the landmark 1944 conference at the tail end of World War II that led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which later evolved into the World Trade Organization. The Italian PM has a reputation for stretching the truth, but with world markets continuing to slide precipitously—the TSX had lost more than 700 points and the loonie was down nearly five cents by mid-afternoon, its biggest one-day drop ever—Berlusconi's comments may be an accurate reflection of just how far the world's leaders are willing to go to prevent a total economic meltdown.