2. Given what has already taken place, reapply the intelligence phase principles to determine the current state of the problem.

The U.S. financial markets have experienced a storm unseen since the Great Depression (some say worse than that). Losses in the financial sector wiped out much of the liquidity in the U.S. credit industry, further affecting companies’ ability to borrow and continue operations. The ensuing recession has had a staggering effect on the world economy, leading to millions of job losses and causing national governments to intervene to keep the world financial systems from collapsing altogether.