From today's Guardian (UK), "US 'endangering world economy'":

The International Monetary Fund last night warned that the gaping US budget deficit, ballooning trade imbalance and falling dollar were posing a serious threat to the health of the global economy.

It sounded the alarm in a critical report on US fiscal policy, which rounds on the Bush administration's crowd-pleasing tax cuts last year. The US is facing a record-breaking budget deficit, expected to exceed $400bn (£222bn) this year and the IMF urged Washington to get its house in order by raising taxes and cutting spending.

Debt is expected to reach 40% of the US economy, which the report described as "an unprecedented level of external debt for a large industrial country" that would push up global interest rates and slow growth.

The US appetite for borrowing would cause the weakened dollar to plunge further hurting other economies still trying to get back on their feet. The dollar has lost 20% of its value against the euro in the past 18 months. It said there was a diminishing appetite among foreign investors to hold US assets.