This is a common misconception (and one which I think reflects what the standard *SHOULD* be). Even though the close </p> tag is mandatory for certain other standards, </p> is optional in html 4.01, per http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/text.htm and other w3c references:
9.3.1 Paragraphs: the P element
...
Start tag: required, End tag: optional

Whether or not this stands in the forthcoming html 5.0 standard is unknown.

In reply to Re^3: Ensuring HTML is "balanced" by ww
in thread Ensuring HTML is "balanced" by skx

Title:
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