"It was in a free fall and it was a very scary period,"

VOA: standard.2009.12.20

His presidency began before a crowd a million strong, but when the cheering stopped, he was one man dealing with overlapping crises: an economy in free fall and two unpopular wars.

VOA: standard.2010.01.16

Strauss-Kahn told an audience for 2010 at Washington's National Press Club that there are signs that the free-fall in the global economy may be starting to abate.

VOA: standard.2009.04.16