Hanoi  - On May 28, a currency analyst at Morgan Stanley released a report that hit Vietnam's financial community like a smack in the face.

With Vietnam's inflation and trade deficit soaring, the analyst wrote, its currency was under threat. Twelve-month futures on the Vietnam dong had "gapped" to 23,000 to the dollar, a 50 per cent premium on Hanoi's official rate of 16,600. If Vietnam did not allow rapid depreciation, the dong would likely collapse by year's end.

The Morgan Stanley report was just one of a rash of gloomy mid- year Vietnam reports. Deutsche Bank predicted a 30 per cent fall in the dong. Merrill Lynch said Vietnam was experiencing an "inflation shock" that could prompt massive capital flight.

Washington  - 2008 is a year that most of the world's economies would like to forget.

The United States leads the pack, suffering from its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and a year-long economic recession.

The troubles in the world's largest economy have taken the rest of the globe down with it - the International Monetary Fund and World Bank both predict a global recession in 2009.

What began as a downturn in the US housing market nearly brought down the entire US financial system.

London  - In Britain, 2008 will be remembered as the year Prime Minister Gordon Brown abandoned prudence and fell in love with big spending.

In order to keep the nation shopping, despite the credit crunch, Brown threw his customary caution to the wind and embarked on a spending programme of mammoth proportions.

His decision to confront the recession by cutting taxes and hiking public debt to record levels has been hailed as courageous by supporters, and condemned as a monumental gamble by critics.

It certainly marked a 360-degree turn for Brown, who had spent his 10 years as Chancellor of the Exchequer telling the nation that the Labour Party would never allow the return to the policy of "boom and bust."

Amman  - An estimated accumulated Arab surplus of 1 trillion petrodollars gained prominence over the past three months as one of the key factors to reckon with in handling the global financial upheaval that erupted in the United States in September and spread to the rest of the world economy later on.

Analysts in the Middle East also raised the possibility of the turmoil prompting governments of the oil-rich Arab countries to repatriate a major part of Arab funds mostly invested or deposited in Western countries, as the Arab world appeared to emerge a safer haven for such investments.

Reykjavik  - A spirit of rebellion has slowly enveloped Iceland, reinforced by every new horror story about the financial crisis.

"What responsibility to you feel over the fact that my debts have quadrupled, although I make my repayments on time and haven't taken out any new loans?" asked one ordinary citizen of Prime Minister Geir Haarde this week in front of 2,000 listeners.

"Somehow, everyone is responsible," the premier answered meekly. He added that his responsibility will have to be clarified before an independent "truth commission."

Berlin  - The rapid deterioration in the global economy in recent months means the worst is yet to come for Europe.

Indeed, after a buoyant start to 2008, the 15-member eurozone and its biggest economy Germany could now be facing a very painful year as concerns mount that a protracted recession has been taking hold amid sharply rising layoffs, falling exports, contracting order books and slumping private consumption.

"The present downturn is historic in many of its dimensions," said Elga Bartsch, economist with the US investment house Morgan Stanley. "While the euro-zone has seen phases of stagnation, it has yet to endure a full-blown recession."