Over the last 12 months global financial markets have undergone major corrections following, fundamentally, a break-down in the confidence and trust in the financial system as practiced by the Western world.
Along with this break-down we experienced a steep fall in US housing prices, the nationalization of financial institutions, the forced merger and/or failure of several large financial institutions in the US and Europe, and a global credit freeze.
The crisis has led us into an economic recession.