And if countries like Greece, Ireland and Portugal had not drawn on European and international solidarity, the adjustment process would have been much more abrupt. The sudden stop of external capital inflows would have forced those economies to balance their current accounts immediately. In response to the crisis, Portugal implemented considerable consolidation measures and structural reforms.
Cross-border trading and the volume of trade have increased exponentially and so has the complexity of products offered. History, however, has proven that financial innovation in an ineffectively regulated environment provides an avenue for market manipulation, and precedes excessive risktaking and market failures.