From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Is the U.S. leading the way to a global recession?

Hello again, I'm Arminolny, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

The International Monetary Fund says America's financial crisis is so bad it'll damage the rest of the world, except for the Middle East and Asia.

This, as finance ministers from the major industrialized countries have gathered in Washington, to figure out what to do.

Not everybody's as pessimistic as the IMF, but nobody doubts there's trouble ahead.

On To the Point, is the global economy faced with another Great Depression?

How worried should Americans be?

What should be done?

And will there be winners as well as losers, both at home and abroad. First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D.

and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation. Hello again, Mormon-Aulney. Back with To the Point.

The globalized economy means that America's financial problems could spread to the rest of the world.

The international monetary funds says there's a one-and-four chance of a global recession

as finance ministers are meeting in Washington to decide what to do.

On To the Point, how closely linked are the world's economies?

Will there be winners as well as losers?

Should Americans be worried?

First, this news update.

The opposition to Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, has called for a general strike starting on Tuesday.

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