US president Barack Obama signed a $787 billion economic stimulus package today as global markets plunged on fears that governments were doing too little, too late to fight the deepening recession.
Declaring it would lay the groundwork for "real and lasting change for generations to come", Mr Obama signed the bill in Colorado, an electoral battleground state in the 2008 presidential election.
Mr Obama has staked his own political viability on the package, a mixture of tax cuts and spending projects, saying its success will determine his own.
Reuters