Debt crisis: Markets slide as corporates report poor results Kouvelis arriving at the meeting earlier today. 15.51 No sign of the news improving just yet as the Office for National Statistics's latest study on national wellbeing shows that the decline in living standards in Britain has been deeper and longer lasting in the current recession than in the previous two. National incomes fell by more than 13pc this year compared to the start of the recession four years ago, data in the report showed. Net national income per head during three recessions in the UK. Source: ONS It is worth noting though that the ONS will release the data for growth in the third quarter on Thursday which is expected to show that the economy grew by 0.7pc, meaning an end to the double-dip recession. 15.44 Back to markets quickly, which are heading down. The is Dow Jones is now down 250 points - the biggest one day fall in four months. The S&P 500, which was flat when markets opened in the US, is now down 1.5pc. US and European markets have fallen after Moody's downgraded five regions in Spain and poor US company results reiginited fears over the slowing economy. 15.22 Staying with the European Commission, it has released its first estimate of consumer confidence, which showed it slightly inched up in October in the eurozone to -25.6 points from -25.9 points in September. September was the lowest reading since May 2009. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast no change. However, in the European Union it fell slightly from -24 to 24.2. Consumer spending makes up more than half of the euro zone's economic and households may keep spending plans on hold as governments toughen austerity measures and companies cut costs. 15.08 Our man in Brussels Bruno Waterfield again, this time he's tweeting about the European Commission's request for the budget. 14.48 The US market is open and has followed Europe down. The Dow Jones is down 1.4pc, the Nasdaq is down 1.2pc, while the S&P 500 is flat. European markets have continued to slide with the FTSE 100 now down 1.3pc, the DAX and IBEX down 1.8pc and the CAC down 1.9pc. Markets fell as poor earnings from a host of of large multinational companies were reported and a Moody's credit rating downgrade of several regions in Spain triggered concerns about the slowing global economy. Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments, commented on the US earnings: The writing has been on the wall for a while, it's a very tough environment, it's tough to generate new revenues so it shouldn't be too big a surprise we are having people miss on that front. And said on Europe - We had gone through a period starting with (European Central Bank President) Draghi's announcement from the ECB that he would stand behind the sovereign debt where Spain situation had kind of faded from people's view and it's bubbling up again. 14.35 Austerity is the word of the moment in the eurozone. Bank of Italy board member Slavatore Rossi said the country may need to adopt further austerity measures early next year to ensure that it meets its public finance objectives from 2014. In a testimony to parliament he said that under the government's latest budget plan Italy would not run a structurally balanced budget after next year. For this reason, Rossi said it may be "prudent" to adopt further spending cuts in the spring, so long as the economy shows sogns of recovery as is currently expected. Italian anti-riot policemen clash with protesters as they demonstrate against the government's economic policy measures in Rome, Italy last month. 14.22 Closer to home, Britain has left the European Union in all but name, according to the latest blog by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. He says: To all intents and purposes, the UK is already out. We stayed still. Europe galloped away without us. No doubt we can find some elegant formula to paper over the split. As my friend Daniel Hannan puts it, we could devise a Swiss arrangement while pretending that we are still EU members. No point frightening the horses. For those readers who missed it, the UK is preparing to pull out of almost all areas of "Justice and Home Affairs," the so-called Pillar III of EU jurisdiction. Pillar I is the single market, and Pillar II is foreign affairs This is revolutionary. We are withdrawing from 130 directives, covering everything from the European Arrest Warrant, the European Public Prosecutor, to the European justice department (Eurojust). 14.15 Elsewhere in Athens, disabled people are also protesting against changes in the benefits paid to people with disabilities and plans to suspend disability pensions and benefits until they are re-evaluated by the Disability Certification Centers. 13.59 But of course there is not just one protestor. Students are outside the parliament in Greece protesting about austerity measures, with cuts affecting education spending. 13.42 A lone protester has been spotted outside the finance ministry in Greece. 13.33 The meeting between Greece and its international lenders gets under way. Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos and finance minister Yannis Stournaras have arrived at the parliament building. Earlier today (see 09.50), one of Greece's papers Kathimerini is reporting that the country and its international lenders may agree to lower the country's privatisation targets for the next three years. 12.55 Lunchtime update on markets, which were mixed in early trading but are all in the red now. The FTSE 100, IBEX and CAC are all down 1.1pc, while the DAX is down 1.4pc. 12.28 The European Commission has backed an initiative by 10 of the eurozone countries to introduce a harmonised financial transaction tax (FTT) among themselves to make the financial sector contribute to the costs of the sovereign debt crisis. The idea was initially tabled in September 2011, with the essence of the proposal that a low-rate, wide-base tax would be applied on all financial transactions with any economic link to the EU. The estimated revenue yield was €57bn. Following discussions not all of the eurozone member could agree unanimously on a reasanable period. But 10 countries still wanted the common FTT and wrote to the Commission to allow them to move ahead, by enabling a legal process called enhanced cooperation, which makes it possible for only some countries to implement it. The 10 countries are France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement: I am delighted to see that 10 member states have indicated their willingness to participate in a common FTT along the lines of the Commission's original proposal. This tax can raise billions of euros of much-needed revenue for member states in these difficult times. This is about fairness: we need to ensure the costs of the crisis are shared by the financial sector instead of shouldered by ordinary citizens. 12.09 Having witnessed the turmoil in the 17-nation eurozone, Poland has no plans to make the bloc 18 countries. Speaking at an event in London today, Poland's central bank chief Marek Belka said a sluggish eurozone economy would continue to weigh on growth in Poland, where he and other policymakers are under pressure to cut interest rates. We think sluggish growth or even stagnation in western europe will weigh heavily on Polish growth prospects. As long as the euro zone is not stable it's not attractive for us. 11.57 Moving to Spain's Mediterranean neighbour - Reuters is reporting that Portugal is preparing 'Plan B' in case its 2013 tax revenues fall short of targets set under its international bailout An EU official said the plan would be discussed by international lenders at their next review of the €78 rescue plan in late November. The official told Reuters: They (the plans) are to make sure there is room for manoeuvre in case there are any slippages in 2013. This is not to say we believe that the 2013 targets are unrealistic, slippages are not our central scenario. This is more in case something were to happen. 11.49 Staying in Spain, the country's treasury minister Cristobal Montoro has said the nation's central government was very close to meeting its 2012 deficit target of 4.5 percent of gross domestic product, Reuters has reported. The deficit for the central government - not including the regions or the social security system - was 3.9 percent of GDP to the end of September, he said in an address to Parliament. Reuters quoted him as telling parliament: The central government deficit in September in homogenous terms ...was 3.9 percent (of GDP). This means we are very close to meet our deficit target for all of 2012. 11.04 Spain continues to dominant the news in the eurozone this morning. The country held an auction of short-term debt today, raising more money than forecast, with demand outstripping supply by more than two to one, according to the Bank of Spain. The country raised €3.53bn in three and six-month bonds, compared to its target of €2.5bn-€3.5bn However, the rate it paid on the three-month bill rose to 1.415pc, up from 1.203pc in the in the previous comparable sale on 25 September.