stocks since the great depression investors' doubts about the u.s. economy are growing repeated attacks from u.s. president donald trump on the federal reserve and its characters' powell have unsettled nerves as has the prospect of an extended government shutdown. now trump has tried to curb the growing unease over the economy by saying that's the federal reserve's interest interest rate policies which again get criticized were simply a sign of economic robustness here's what he had to say they're raising interest rates too fast because they think you're going to miss so good. i think that. they will get it for instance i really do mean the fact is that the economy is doing so well that they raised interest rates and that's as a form of safety it would president obama didn't do much of that much easier and when you have no interest rate you had a very low interest rate we have a normalized interest rate normalized interest rate means a lot you know it's good for a lot of people they have money in the bank they get interest on their books for many yea

brown, someone asked me about depressions, the great depression. that was a depression occurred in the mid-1870's. another sharp depression in the 1890's. look what happens to the pattern of migration. when there is a recovery, you have an increase in the people coming in. this is the age when it really spikes up. --id population increase immigration increase in the u.s.. down in thiso time, during the post-1914 time? >> world war i. >> exactly. a number of european nations passed laws forbidding migration because they needed the soldiers. jobs in theots of war industries in europe. if there is an employment in your own country, you are not necessarily going overseas. up how it takes up --picks after world war i? washe 20's, the economy booming. everybody knew there was going another big wave of migration to the u.s. sawid we -- you know if we a lot of immigrant involvement in the american side of world war i? >> yes, i'm sure there would have in some immigrants. the more typical pattern, i don't have a percentage for you, it was certainly the case

stocks are on pace for their worst december since the great depression.oday. u.s. futures are indicating we'll see a bit of a rebound today. in terms of of whats has driven this sell-off, it's a combination of things. global growth concerns, what the fed will do in terms on of rates for next year, slowdown in china. we had some weak data out at the nd understa end of last week. let's watch what happens today and, of course, tomorrow i've got the federal reserve meeting in focus. now, in the tech space, i just want to highlight google news is back in the spotlight. according to reports, google has halted their chinese data collection program which deals a major blow to their dragon fly project. remember, over the course of the last couple of weeks around the congressional hearing, google came under a lot of pressure around this controversial project. at the moment, it seems as though an official launch has been indefinitely postponed. perhaps google is caving to the pressures that they've been facing. >> and not to be outdone by amazon or apple, thief unve

earlier, mister brown asked me, someone had asked me about depressions in the great depression? there was a question that occurred in the mid-1870s and there is another sharp depression and 1890s. look at what happened to the pattern of migration. there was a recovery and then you have an increase in the number of people coming in. this was the age in which it really spiked up and there was a very rapid population increase. there is an immigration increase as well. this is the culmination of the urban industrialization. why did it go down in this period of time during the post 1914.? >> world war i? >> exactly, the european nations actually passed laws forbidding migration because they needed the soldiers. they are -- there were also a lot of jobs. this is important because do you see how it picks up again after world war i? what was happening in the us during the 1920s, the economy was booming and so everybody knew that there was going to be another big wave of migration to the united states. >> actually, do you know if we saw a lot of immigrant involvements in the american side

dowjones index of leading shares closing down nearly 3%, on track for its worst december since the great depression of 1931. it follows calls made by the us treasury secretary, steven mnuchin, to the heads of america's six largest banks in an attempt to reassure investors after a bad week for wall street. 0ur correspondent samira hussain is in new york. samira, this was an unusual move by mnuchin, and it appears to have backfired. indeed, it is absolutely a rare move for a us treasury secretary to make it public that he in fact spoke with america's financial institutions. in doing so, he wanted to make sure that these banks have enough cash on hand to shore up the us economy and the financial market in the event that they need that kind of support. now, in doing that, however, he didn't really reassure financial investors. in fact, didn't really reassure financial investors. infact, he didn't really reassure financial investors. in fact, he further stoked their fears, as evidence by

brown -- someone asked me about depressions, the great depression. there was a depression that occurred in the mid-1870's. another sharp depression in the 1890's. look what happens to the pattern of migration. when there is a recovery, you have an increase in the people coming in. this is the age when it really spikes up. this is an age of very rapid population increase -- rather, immigration increase in the united states, the culmination of the urban industrial transformation. why does it go down in this time, during the post-1914 time? student: world war i. prof. courtwright: exactly. a number of european nations actually passed laws forbidding migration because they needed the soldiers. moreover, there were lots of jobs in the war industries in europe. if there is employment in your own country, you are not necessarily going overseas. but, and this is important, see how it picks up after world war i? what was happening in the united states during the 1920's? the economy was booming. everybody knew there was going to be another big wave of migration

the country was not in a great depression in 1980, but the united states was in the dumps. >> on wallt was cold, gray, wet, and miserable. in was no comfort to be found outside. and for investors, there was not much inside either. the tickers carried almost nothing but bad news. >> we would come off a terrible decade for investing. people were skeptical of the stock market. it was a very sleepy wall street back then. >> most economists expect a serious recession, with at least 2 million more americans losing their jobs. >> i regret to say we're in the worst economic mess since the great depression. >> literally from the first moments of his presidency on, president reagan let it be known that his top priority is the nation's economy. >> i put a freeze on pending regulations and send up a task force under vice president bush to review regulations with an eye toward getting rid of as many as possible. >> the philosophy behind deregulation is that it works better. >> this bill represents the first step in our administration's comprehensive program of financial deregulation. >> introducin

it was in was the great depression. in general the american economy is not doing too badly.the partial shutdown of government, having you? that happens from time to time. though, it happens a p pa re ntly to time. though, it happens apparently all the time. laughter and then you have got worries about slower growth and the political uncertainty. that will send a chill. it will be interesting what happens when markets open your tomorrow. my jewel, it makes you sick is the mirror‘s front page. hospital parking charges. this has been something that the mirror has been campaigning on for quite a while. that is right. and other papers i'm sure. what has come out today is that almost half of nhs trusts have increased about hospital charges. you could be paying up to £4 an hour, which is an outrageous charge. i don't think there's any reason why will shouldn't pay to park at a hospital, but it should be a fair charge to go into it. the big problem is how do you cope with people or popping in to see a sick relative, don't know how long they're going to be, come out and because the c

the dow on pace for its worst december since the great depression. how the administration's effort to try to calm investors backfired. the president's message as he sits alone at the white house tonight. >>> plus, the desperate search for survivors in indonesia as the death toll keeps growing. sual fficials assault charge. embattled actor kevin spacey facing a criminal complaint tonight. and the mysterious video he just released. price for the things we both know i did do, i'm certainly not going to pay for the >> what's behind the spacey's bizarre statement, shot in character. >>> speaking out, the family of a high school wrestler ordered to cut his hair before a match shreds light on that controversial call, their message as new revelations of the referee emerge. >>> the little girl named faith living up to her name. we tell you how this 11-year-old radio host is inspiring america. >>> and home for the holidays. the spirit of the season is alive across the country as family members reunite just in time for christmas. >> announcer: this is "nbc nigh

government caused the great depression. we're talking about the depression in the 30s. >> yep.mark: and basically what happened there was you had a recession. a bad recession and government intervenes. government does two things, tell me if i'm right. tariffs. tariffs again and then monetary policy. tightens money rather than loosens money as milton friedman would say, and they turned the recession into a great depression. i have that about right? >> in 1936, when everything was getting better. we had positive gdp growth in 1936. tightened up monetary policy again and created another straight back into the depression. like in 2000 -- right after 9/11, the fed massively lowered interest rates, which in turn, all the pension funds run the united states. they have a basic model. 6% return, they'll be able to pay the pensions in the end. but now they can't get yield, so they started chasing yield, and that's when these collateralized debt obligations, crazy things started happening. if they didn't get the yield, the entire model would collapse. mark: didn't get their 6%. >> average

-- >> we would have had a depression if the fed hadn't done a great job.al bankers of the world came in and saved the markets and were a stabilizing force in the last decade. you and i know that's true. >> we got to leave it there. >> one thing on the positive, though, if trump can get there trade deal done with china in the next 60 days the stockmarket is going through the roof. >> well, we will see. i hope you are right. exactly. let's set that date. pen sim it in on the calendar and have this discussion again soon. >> merry christmas, happy holidays. >>> now for something a little more uplifting. holiday surprises that will warm your heart. . >> military families getting special gifts just in time for christmas. that's next. but first, it's been called the e-mail killers. slack is a chat application that has become him critical in many offices. the company started out making video games. >> it was an accident we found the slack product. it was borne out of the way we collaborate rated working toke making a video game. after four years it was apparent th

time for christmas the story picks up about twenty years after the first part ended during the great depression in london this is not a remake of the original story but instead a sequel based on several books that were never filmed well several hollywood stars are part of the cast so this is sure to be a hit for the holidays. fans had to wait fifty four long years now at last the magical mary poppins returns to the silver screen the star studded motion picture headed to european premiere in london on wednesday. she has a lot of relevance for people around the world when things feel rather fragile i think that she's a great unifier and we love the first film like so many people general it was something that was definitely a labor of love on our hearts. mary poppins returns picks up on the story from the one thousand nine hundred sixty four original. a long break between a film and its sequel. this time around emily blunt plays the extraordinary nanny. my goodness and bill have you done your clues you could grow god that much so well and john yes just to fit the crime scene around me because she'

you are seeing a big loss, the biggest losses in december since the great depression.ears now, this is what it looks like. last year we had a 22% gain for the s and p 500. we got used to that, investors did. now they will face the lowest return in years really. this is where we are. europe has stabilized. we will see a bounce back here. but that's hardly enough to even make a dent in the losses we have seen for the month. what's wrong? interest rates are rising. that will be critical, you guys. what will the fed say? the president is not happy with the fed raising interest rates. he just tweeted not to long ago, i hope the people at the fed read today's wall street journal. feel the market. just don't go by meaningless numbers. he's saying don't raise rates 50 basis points. but the president a direct warning and request to the fed sheet. >> feel the market. christine romans, thank you very much. the market has been pretty lousy in the month of december so far. >>> her two-year-old son is dying in a california hospital, but she is not able to see him because of the trav

certainly the extent of the great depression matters. there is a lot of rhetoric about immigrants taking jobs from americans, the death of anti-semitism in the united states certainly mattered. you see here if you added up all these visas, you are talking about nearly 120,000 visas that could have been issued that what't during this period you see is the waiting list. each suitcase represents 5000 people on the waiting list. you have a three year waiting list. for germany alone, for the country of germany alone is over 300,000. an issue in every year except for one they weren't. table wenteractive tell the stories of nine individuals that were trying to make it out of nazi controlled europe and the americans trying to sponsor them. thise trying to show how restrictive immigration system influences real people. story of how an frank's father tries to make his way getting visas for his wife and two daughters. this story is an interesting one that shows both the limits or the challenges of people trying to immigrate. her father passed away

wall street is having its worst december since the great depression, and the government shutdown is a major factor. the markets could turn around this week, but that aparunlikely. abc's rebecca jarvis reports. >> this is traditionally the time where you see stocks go up between christmas and just after new year's. historically the market goes up a little more than a percent but this christmas eve following that 650-point dow plunge, we are now in the midst of the worst december for stocks since the great depression in 1931, and there are a lot of factors leading to the plunging stock market. first of all, you have interest rates which are rising. trade, the uncertainty over that with china and finally the slowing economy, not just here in the united states, but around the globe. that spells trouble ahead for what's to come in the new year even though currently the u.s. economy is on relatively firm footing with the jobs pictur healthy continuing to improve and wages going up. there are still some big questions about what comes in the next year. plus, add to that the political uncertai

but the great depression was deep down a fact of life in everybody's mind. and all the songs were censored-i use that loosely-by the music publishers. they only wanted love songs or escape songs, so that in 1929 you had "happy days are here again," and you had all of these kinds of songs. there wasn't one song that addressed the depression, in which we were all living. and this show, the americana show, yip was asked to write a song or get the lyrics up for a song which addressed itself to the breadlines, ok? and so, he, at that time, was working very closely with jay gorney. jay had a tune, which he had brought over with him when he was eight years old from russia, and it was in a minor key, which is a whole different key. most popular songs are in major. and it was a russian lullaby, and it was da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da.. and jay had - somebody else had lyrics for it: "once i knewew a big blonde, and she had big blue e eyes. shshe was big blue" - like that. and it was a torch song, ofof which we talkeded about. and yip said, "well, could we throw

. >>> it could be the worst december on wall street since the great depression.r a moment, since the great depression? is this a temporarily bump in the road? our experts weigh in. y the masculine fragrance. yves saint laurent. ♪ can you feel it put a smile on everyone's face this holiday with great gifts from amazon. with low prices and fast, free delivery with prime. ♪ can you feel it for everything you need this holiday, visit amazon. for everything you need this holiday, ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the greatest wish of all is one that brings us together. the final days of wish list are here. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. only at your lincoln dealer. >>> world markets, as you see there, u.s. stocks appear to be set for a solid opening. a rally fizzled yesterday, and s&p on pace for their worst year since the great depression. you may be wondering what is going on. joining us now is a washington post opinion column northwest, and steven moore, who is also an economic adviser to the trump campaign

and this could become the worst december of trading since the great depression. the dow in a free-fall all day, closing early, losing more than 650 points. it comes as president trump faces political battles on multiple fronts, including a standoff over the government shutdown that could last into next year. abc's rebecca jarvis starts us off. >> reporter: it was the nightmare before chris has. stocks continuing their plunge today, the s and sp 500 officially in a bear market, down 20% from october's record highs. wall street having its worst december since the great depression, rocked by concerns over rising interest rates, trade tensions with china and a slowing global economy. hit harold by added political uncertainty. president trump on twitter lashing out again at the federal reserve, calling it the economy's "only problem." >> when investors don't have a clear picture of the strength of our economy and the strength of our country, that's going to force them to really tighten the straps. >> reporter: adding to the anxiety, word treasury secretary steve mnuch

. >>> and the stock market has its best december since the great depression. there be a worst time for a new re-election ad asking everybody to thank president trump for the economy. >> thank you, president trump. >> thank you, president trump. >> thank you, president trump. >>> meanwhile, the dnc just announced a dozen presidential debates but there are so many democratic contenders you need a score card. i've got a better way to help sort the field. here's a clue, think march madness. >>> plus, with no shortage of news, we've had quite a year together, a fun look back at the people and moments that we shared with our wide range of guests and topics. remember this? >> you are now doing the job of the white house, just so everybody knows that. >> i don't think the white house would agree with that. >>> but first, the president finds himself in peril, like at no point during his 2-year-old administration. the last few days have brought a series of sobering issues. i've got a question, which of these is the biggest threat to trump? the markets, mueller, military

maybe you were even supposed to stretch a little bit, because after all, since the great depression, average, home prices had only gone up. >> if there's one area of the economy that has stood its ground, it's the housing market. still a hot market fuelled by low interest rates and hopes that real estate will offer not only a safe haven but continue to gain value. >> john and camille carter are joining the growing number of first-time home buyers, convinced the time is right thanks to dropping interest rates. >> we prequalified a week ago and it's gone down since then. it's kind of amazing. >> everyone was talking about it. they all saw buying a house as sort of the main way to get wealthy. house prices kept going up, so this seemed like a no-risk, no-brainer thing to do. >> mortgage applications hit an all-time high last week. >> current homeowners taking advantage of lower interest rates too, refinancing their homes as americans seek to lower payments and put more cash in their wallets. >> this business has gotten so competitive and so aggressive because everyone wants a piece of t

stocks fell again this week and numbers not seen since the great depression. more on the market moves. >> plus open and enclosed and enclosed again. a confusing few days for one of the u.k.'s busiest airports all because of mysterious drones. we'll have the latest for you. sometimes bir i disorder can make you feel like you have no limits. but mania, such as unusual changes in your mood, activity or energy levels, can leave you on... ...shaky ground. help take control by asking your healthcare provider about vraylar. vraylar treats acute mania of bipolar i disorder. vraylar significantly reduces overall manic symptoms, and was proven in adults with mixed episodes who have both mania and depression. vraylar should not be used in elderly patients with dementia, due to increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, which may mean a life-threatening reaction or uncontrollable muscle movements, which may be permanent. side effects may not appear for several weeks. high cholesterol and weight gain; high blood sugar, whi

. >>> we're set to close out the worst december since the great depression. >>> 11 hours from now, a new year begins but a partial government shutdown continues. and just today, house democrats say they've decided on a plan to try and reopen the government once they take control of the chamber but that's not until thursday. still, there are roughly 800,000 federal workers. they're not receiving a paycheck this week and they haven't seen a paycheck since the shutdown began and many may need financial assistance. while this is happening, the definition of president trump's border wall which is the issue at the center of this shutdown, it is a moving target. >> it really depends on what customs and border patrol says they need, and they have said they need barriers. they need -- the president says a wall. a barrier. steel slats. technology enhancements. >> the wall has become a metaphor for border security, and what we're talking about is a physical barrier where it makes sense. >> all right. so if we just take a look at the president's own words, noesh negotiations stalled. he tweeted

all of the the new deal during the great depression and and one and a half times the scale of the obama stimulus in two thousand and ten so that huge wave of government spending is masking the collapse of the credit system oh fantastic stand nice talking with you again have a great new year by the way how can people contribute to you. you know well i can go to the website try to triple w poetry on dot com slash canadian and sign up to the minimum sign up as a dollar a month maximum is a lot more than that if you want to be generous my basic idea is to give an amount of money that want to make your spouse annoyed with you and i can support my work and keep in touch with the research i'm doing to try to give us a decent economics is there an amount of money that one can choose that while make your spouse mad at you that's an existential question for twenty nineteen thanks for being on the show steve thank you that's going to do it for this edition of kaiser report with me max kaiser stacy herbert like to thank our guest professor steve k. and you can find a patriot if you want to catch us

nine after the stock market crash as banks were being destroyed during the great depression the last stigall importantly separated investment banking from commercial banking the concern was the improper speculating role commercial banks were playing in the stock market using in part their own customers money they were seriously self-serving some said greedy and place not only the financial sector but the entire economy in park areas peril and when those bank speculative bets went bad the markets melted down crashing with contagion not only amongst the banks but other companies and other sectors of the economy for the last years of the clinton administration the economy was booming with excellent growth the last year in one nine hundred ninety nine g.d.p. was four point eight percent but the us federal government actually had a budget surplus it had been two decades since that occurred but one not so notice thing was this thing taking place at a little agency that was pretty and memorable rather it's called the c f t c the us commodity futures trading commission the c f t c chairwoman

the dow lost 464 points and on pace for the worst december since the great depression in 1931. the s&p fell by nearly 40 and the nasdaq lost 108 and down 19.5% from the record high in august. >>> it is not what you want to hear heading in to the holidays, the americans are gaining weight. cdc reports that women's average has risen from 163 pounds to 170, and men are up from 189 to 198. since 1960s, the americans are 30 pounds heavier. men are down in height, about a tenth of an inch in a decade and women remain about the same. >>> hershey is dealing with imperfect kisses. they are turning up with missing or broken tips. bakers are complain thath affecaffect -- complaining that it affects ho >>> even santa and his elves can use help. don shows us the second busiest place on earth. >> dear santa, i have tried my best to be good. >> reporter: not all of the millions letters make it to the north pole, some end up in santa claus, indiana. she is the town post master. >> letters addressed to santa, there's 20,000-30,000. >> reporter: rather than forwarding them to the arctic, the u.s

the worst month it looks like of december since the great depression. the president we've heard over and over talk about the stock market as basically a barometer of his leadership. now that we're seeing this dramatic down turn bear some responsibility? >> no. the fundamentals are still strong. ask anybody who talks about the market and they'll still tell you they still talk about the fundamentals. what are the fundamentals of the economy? unemployment is still low. capital investment is high. gdp is growing at above 3%. all the things the president said his economic policies would deliver have delivered. the stock market goes up and down. we're no more happier than anybody else. love to have a conversation with you about some of the things the fed is doing. >> let's talk about that. by the way, he took credit when it was booming. you've mentioned the fed. it was a year ago the president nominated jerome powell to lead the fed. this is what he said at the time. >> based on his record, i am confident that jay has the wisdom and leadership to guide our ec

the banks were thrilled to get this bailout in the 1930s through the great depression from the federal government. they were thrilled to get out and load again with the guarantee that if the loan with the south they would get back a good portion of the capital. what happened after world war ii is almost every single year there was a proposal in congress to liberalize the terms come extended to 15 years to 20 years as all the worry of very familiar with the 30 year mortgage. that was unheard of back then. let's have less and less down payment, less and less interest. it's a great deal for the consumer but it's a problem for banks to put these are long-term nonliquid mortgages on the books. what a fat is there's this interesting game going on between private actors and the government where the banks are trying to defeat these liberalization by lending more, showing up as if the progress report to the committee hearing saying we're doing a good job, reaching for people, and please don't liberalize these new legislation. one thing i thought was interesting in the book is you mentioned this

. >> reporter: they're nicknamed the three amigos, the men who stave off another great depression. en years since the great recession, they addressed the personal toll the 2008 financial crisis had on them. >> i felt very, very alone and very disconsolate. we really felt like we were kind of out on an island there. >> that crushing sense of responsibility and fear. >> the scariest times for me were never during the day, right? we were too busy. we were talking to each other. it would be waking up in the middle of the night. >> reporter: you had nightmares? >> oh, gosh, yes. >> reporter: their documentary delves into what really happened during the financial market meltdown. >> we were a few days away from the atms on working. >> reporter: it was a crisis caused by irresponsible lending and a bubble burst in the market. >> hank was in markets for many years. i was an academic, i worked on the great depression. so in a way we were prepared, and that was fortuitous, and we were complimentary to each other. but i have to say, you may train for war, but you don't necessarily want to be i

the big headline, they're now on pace for their worst december since the great depression.t is and what you should do. we have a powerhouse team covering all of this for the next 60 minutes. we start with the biggest news of the morning. michael flynn, three-star general, former national security adviser, now convicted felon. it didn't start like this. it started with flynn acting as an informal adviser to the trump campaign. he was part of the president's transition and named national security adviser ten days after the election, putting him inside,

set to open again later today after markets had seen the worst christmas trading day since the great depression in one nine hundred thirty one president donald trump said that there was nothing new with regards to ending the partial government shutdown he also said the recent interest rate hikes by the federal reserve are a sign of a strengthening economy in the u.s. . north and south korea and moving another step closer to each other on wednesday the two countries broken ground on what is said to become one of the biggest infrastructure projects on the peninsula to modernize north korean railways and roads and connect them with the south. north korea seen from the south across what used to be one of the most impenetrable borders in the world it is all changing now and this train heading north and carrying one hundred south korean officials as part of the process hopes are high for the two koreas to grow closer together after decades of separation. reconnection of railways the roads means more than just the physical reconnection people and supplies will come and go through the roads and we will

stock markets are on pace for the worst december since 1931 during the great depression. we will speak to economics professor richard wolff. but first, only days after the u.s. supreme court rules against president trump asylum band, a second guatemalan child dies in border patrol custody in new mexico. we will spspeak to baher azmzmyf the centerer for cononstitutioil rights. >>>> congress s has writitten vy clearly in the immigration anand nationonality act that t indivis are entitled to o apply y for am whether they make that --- whether they enter thehe unite ststat a at a port of entryry ad subjecect to routine inspectionr whether they enter oututside a poport of entry to whetether thy cross with the government would say unlawfully. amy: and a group of yemeni americans follow lawsuit over president trump's muslim ban in an attempt to reunite with their families who have been blocked entry into the united states, even though their visas had been approved. we will be joined by a yemeni father and his four-year-old daughter who is separated from her mother. >> when she a

dipping below twenty two thousand and analysts were talking about the worst decembers since the great depression among the explanations for the losses concerns over the global economy and trade conflicts after monday's losses the index bounced up five percent on wednesday as investors took advantage of lower share prices. it was a similar picture in frankfurt. as if it hadn't gone down and off already after the christmas holidays the doc started this week this abbreviated week with a new loss and a tumble to a new two year low now on the last day of trading with the end of the year the dax are recovered some points made some territory good but that didn't satisfy anyone at the party behind me people are just sighing a collective sigh of relief the twenty eight team is over with the dax down for the year at about twenty percent and going into the new year not overly optimistic. it seems the volatility thanks to worries over breakfast in the u.s. china trades but will continue for some time to come. south korean officials accuse german luxury carmaker b.m.w. of delaying recalls of cars with engine

markets are set for their worst december since 1931, when the country was in the throes of the great depression the s&p 500 has lost nearly 8% of its value in december, eclipsing the 6% fall witnessed during the final month of 2002. traditionally, stocks climb into the year-end in what is known as a "santa rally" - a phenomenon in which stocks rise in december as investors are filled with festive cheer and optimism. winner: 'dramatic drops' in gas prices: less-than-$2 gas is here for many american motorists . . . nearly one in five u.s. fuel stations are charging less than $2 per gallon of gasoline as falling oil prices deliver holiday savings for american motorists. as many as eight states could have an average price of less than $2 by the end of the week, said patrick dehaan, senior petroleum analyst for fuel-finding app gasbuddy. one station in texas was charging $1.65 as of monday morning - the lowest in the country.nationally, the average was $2.37 on monday - 5 cents cheaper than a week ago, 26 cents cheaper than a month ago and 6 cents cheaper than a year ago.california, where the nation