It is still locked in talks with banks and bondholders about a full-scale financial restructuring and on Thursday announced that it had managed to persuade them to hold off repayments for another month.
The credit crunch that had been hammering the world economy since 2007 was suddenly transformed into a full-scale financial crisis, and countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary were caught in a frightening downward spiral.
Marx in the mid 90s "was apparently irrelevant", but by the time the book came out there had been full-scale financial meltdowns in both Russia and Asia, and "the idea we had achieved perfect financial equilibrium didn't seem quite so assured".
Against that is the loss in economic output from a full-scale financial crisis, which averages around 20% of GDP, according to an IMF working paper.Adair Turner, the chairman of the FSA, expects no certainty on financial regulation until after the general election, to be held by next June.
More than just an attempt to aid consumers and stabilize the housing market, government officials cast the settlement as an effort to finally hold banks accountable for their misdeeds, more than three years after the mortgage collapse brought on a full-scale financial crisis.
The collapse of Lehman began a chain reaction in the derivatives markets that came close to a full-scale financial panic and prompted the US government to propose an unprecedented $700bn bailout for Wall Street – against the wishes of an American public that wanted to see super-remunerated bankers punished for their excesses.
Although the most recent financial crisis was in the rich countries we don't have to go all that far back in history to find debt crises in emerging economies that caused tremors, though not full-scale financial earthquakes, around the world.
Markets have been taking a hit during the shutdown, and we could experience a full-scale financial crisis if the debt ceiling deadline approaches with no sign of a deal.
The culture of self gratification and deregulation that began during the Clinton years and continued under President George W. Bush led to the bursting of one stock market bubble at the turn of the century and a full-scale financial crash less than a decade later.
Given that many more leaked papers did not disclose sums involved, and that PwC was just one of several accounting firms which secure deals with the Luxembourg tax authorities, the full scale of financial flows through Luxembourg, facilitated by comfort letters from the Grand Duchy's officials, is likely to be much higher.
Mr Kitcat said the council tax increase was "modest" and would not cover the full scale of financial pressures on the council.
