Not only, I think, the answer to both questions is in the negative, but it is worth giving proper consideration to the idea that had the forces that led to global imbalances been removed, the financial turmoil would have had lesser global consequences.
A proper counterfactual analysis is beyond the objectives of this short paper, but I believe that the evidence presented here clearly supports such proposition. Both the trigger of the global financial turmoil that started in the summer of 2007 and its proximate causes were essentially financial in nature, and originated in a specific segment of US financial markets.