Global financial crisis of 2008
The worldwide crisis that began with falling US house prices and the collapse in value of mortgage-backed securities.
How to read the number
One bank's loss became everyone's through collateral: those securities backed short-term borrowing, revaluing the collateral demanded cash, and everyone had to sell at the same moment.
When the metric lies
The cause is variously named as mortgages, regulation or ratings, yet no single explanation shows why a local housing market froze global settlement.
Also known as: gfc