BIS Review 116/1997  -2-  I think that some “what ifs” cited by the Computer Information Centre in the UK brings a practical perspective of the effect of what could happen in our everyday life as the millennium arrives. •  The computers in financial services organizations, etc. cannot deliver payments to counter parties, or receive funds from them. Gridlock ensues.
There’s a collapse in financial markets because of the bad news coming from companies about their inability to trade normally. •  The power fails, and it is mid-winter in the Northern hemisphere and mid-summer in the Southern hemisphere.