The Federal Reserve revealed "Operation Twist," a plan to restructure $400B in Treasury holdings by swapping out shorter-maturity government securities for longer-dated securities in hopes of decreasing the long-term interest rates and bolstering the economy. Meanwhile, the EU said there are currently no plans to accelerate the timetable for recapitalization of banks that came close to failing July stress tests, which required a minimum core tier 1 ratio of 5% in a stressed macroeconomic scenario.

President Obama announced plans to fund his $447B jobs plan by ending tax breaks totaling $467B over the next ten years.  The European Commission cut its quarterly growth forecast for the euro zone to 0.2%. China’s economic planning agency announced it would be willing to offer assistance to the euro zone by buying bonds from countries involved in the sovereign debt crisis.

President Obama unveiled a $447B package of tax cuts and spending to spur employment. A German court ruled that 2010's bailout for Greece and the subsequently created euro zone rescue fund was legal, removing a potential barrier to solving the EU's sovereign debt crisis.

Euro zone manufacturing contracted in August, following a two-year run of growth as production fell in France and Italy. China increased its reserve requirements in a move to control liquidity and inflation.The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy failed to add jobs in August as the unemployment rate was stuck at 9.1%.