@FreeDuck,
this recession/depression started dec 2007, and the de-leveraging will likely last a decade or more. Tying it to the year 2009 does not work. We have a global recession/depression which was triggered by a collapse of the global banks and which is perpetuated by the inept political response....all if which was caused at root by corruption and public apathy/ignorance.
The millenium wake-up call
the global banking collapse
the collapse of free market capitalism
the global free trade bust
the great test of democratic theory