By  Tom  Rivers
London
17November 2008
After  another  down  session  on  the  European  markets,the  talk  is  how  long  and  deep  the  recession  will  be.For  VOA,Tom  Rivers  reports  from  London.
The  European  markets  have  had  a  lot  to  digest  during  the  past  few  days.With  Euro  Zone  growth  grinding  to  a  halt  and  further  afield  in  places  like  Japan,where  the  economy  has  officially  joined  the  ranks  of  countries  in  recession,optimism  is  in  short  supply.
And  that  gloomy  sentiment  is  evident  in  the  downward  trend  in  European  trade.
Despite  the  mood,British  Prime  Minister  Gordon  Brown,back  in  London  after  last  weekend's  G-20economic  summit  in  Washington,says  the  way  out  of  this  global  problem  is  a  coordinated  global  approach.
"The  managing  director  of  the  International  Monetary  Fund  has  joined  many  other  people  today  in  calling  for  a  fiscal  stimulus,"Brown  said."A  fiscal  stimulus  means  helping  families  and  helping  businesses  now  through  this  difficult  position  and  as  long  as  you  have,as  we  will  have,a  medium-term  framework  for  fiscal  sustainability,then  this  is  the  right  thing  to  do  facing  the  downturn.It  is  right,as  now  almost  everybody  accepts  across  the  world  and  every  country  is  now  looking  at  this,that  we  help  people  through  these  difficult  times."
IMF  head  Dominique  Strauss-Kahn  says  the  body  is  likely  to  need  at  least $100billion  of  additional  funding  during  the  next  half  year  if  it  is  to  play  a  larger  role  in  aiding  a  global  economic  recovery.
But 2009promises  to  be  a  financially  difficult  year  around  the  world  and  in  Britain,like  elsewhere,that  means  further  economic  pain.
Britain's  largest  business  lobbying  group,the  Confederation  of  British  Industry  warned  rising  British  unemployment  levels  will  probably  peak  toward  the  end  of  next  year.CBI  Chief  Economic  advisor  Ian  McCafferty  says  it  will  be  a  tough  time.
"We  are  currently  seeing  the  fastest  rises  for  some 17years  and  I  think  we  believe  that  we  will  see  two  million  unemployed
Going  hand  in  hand  with  the  rising  unemployment  trend,the  CBI  predicts  Britain's  GDP  will  show  its  sharpest  fall  since 1991as  well.