1:20 AM AEDT | RECESSION? What recession, according to a generation of young people who have grown up with full employment, low interest rates and a buoyant economy.

1:00 AM AEDT | Executives from the big three American car companies - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler - will make a direct plea to Congress today for a multibillion-dollar lifeline, warning that bankruptcy and lay-offs of hundreds of thousands loom without government help.