What first appeared as sub-prime mortgage cracks in the United States housing market during the summer of 2007, began widening during 2008 into deeper fissures across the global financial landscape, and ended with the collapse of major banking institutions, precipitous falls on stock markets across the world and a credit freeze. These financial shockwaves have now triggered a fully-fledged economic crisis, with most advanced countries already in recession and the outlook for emerging and other developing economies deteriorating rapidly, even for those with a recent history of strong economic performance.

4 p.