Global Meltdown

The global financial crisis, brewing for a while, really started to show its effects in the middle of 2007 and into 2008. Around the world stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bailout their financial systems. On the one hand, many people are concerned that those responsible for the financial problems are the ones being bailed out, while on the other hand, a global financial meltdown will affect the livelihoods of almost everyone in an increasingly inter-connected world. The problem could have been avoided, if ideologues supporting the current economics models weren't so vocal, influential and inconsiderate of others' view points and concerns. Almost exactly ten years after the Asian crisis, the world is again confronted with a veritable financial crisis. This time the harbingers arise on the other side the USA rather than East Asia. Whereas ten years ago a real estate bubble in Thailand burst, triggering the flight of international speculqtive capital, today it is the fallout of the real estate crisis in the USA which threatens the financial markets. The global financial crisis of 2008–2009 is an ongoing major financial crisis. It became prominently visible in September 2008 with the failure, merger, or conservatorship of several large United States-based financial firms. The underlying causes leading to the crisis had been reported in business journals for many months before September, with commentary about the financial stability of leading U.S. and European investment banks, insurance firms and mortgage banks consequent to the subprime mortgage crisis.