The second shock was caused by the bursting of the ICT stock market bubble. Share prices of ICT companies took a plunge from the peak reached in March 2000, losing two-thirds of their value. ICT investments - which in the US had risen by 10% to 20% every year since the early 1990s - have been falling since mid-2000.
The present synchronicity of international cyclical movements has largely been caused by these two shocks. There is a good possibility, however, that the international convergence will dissolve again when the effects of both shocks have ebbed away. When the tide turns, the speed of recovery may be different on both sides of the Atlantic.