The recent failure of MF Global demonstrates that this is entirely possible.
That figure could rise with the recent failure of crops and the death of animals from drought.
As the recent failure of G4S to provide security at the Olympics underlined, the "private is best" dogma is kaput.
Mr. Brown has had his successes, but after the recent failure of "13," he is still waiting for the Big One.
That should help the financials," said William D. Rutherford, president of Rutherford Investment Management in Portland, Ore., alluding to the recent failure of two Bear Stearns hedge funds.
But the recent failure of PMI Group's mortgage insurance business is a reminder that swaths of housing's private sector need fixing, too.
Annan compared the situation to the recent failure of the US to carry out long-planned reforms to the International Monetary Fund, which was sharply criticised by countries such as China.
During that same period, the combined share of the discounters and price clubs rose to 13percentt from 9percentt about a decade ago, despite the recent failure of the discounter Kmart.
If BHS does collapse then its disappearance from the high street would have a similar impact to the recent failure of two other town centre stalwarts, Woolworths and Comet.
