In contrast, the current crisis hit at the very heart of global finance with no buffer to fall back on. Some studies suggest that the net worth impact of this crisis, when measured by variables such as declines in output, trade volumes and stock markets, has arguably been more severe than that of the Great Depression.
Every country in every part of the world has been affected by the crisis, although through different channels and to different degrees. The United States and Europe, which had become dependent on the financial sector as their engine of growth, were at the very epicentre of the crisis.