The stock market this week: 5 volatile days

The outcome of one of the most volatile trading weeks in recent memory will go a long way to determining the growth of the global economy and the stability of the international financial system over the next few months. It has also become clear that the old adage ‘it's the economy stupid' will once again dominate the political discourse in the build-up to next year's US Presidential election with Washington more divided than ever before. Equity markets across the US, Europe and Asia have been battered over the last seven days as the twin debt crises in the United States and the Eurozone tighten their stranglehold over governments and financial institutions around the world. US President Barack Obama has failed to prevent America's debt problems from becoming a key election theme. Brinkmanship in Washington led to Republicans and Democrats only agreeing a short-term solution to the crisis with a bill that raises the country's borrowing limit by $2.1 trillion over the next decade.