At some point, the accumulation of non-payable debt could lead to a banking crisis, or even economic collapse.

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The cost of litigation alone (leaving aside any potential damages) may cause significant damage to a startup, including reductions in staff, changes to its products or services, or even a collapse of the business itself.

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But this doesn't mean that an Enronesque collapse is imminent or even that its business--advising companies on computer installations, including accounting systems--is weak.

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And if a currency board or (even more so) currency union should collapse, the harm would be such as to make the travails of middle-way Brazil seem hardly worth mentioning.

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The world has changed drastically, but some South-East Asian governments have not adapted: to the globalisation of the marketplace, to the social changes their own economic triumphs have wrought, or even to the transformation of the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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Immigration from Mexico has or stopped or, by some estimates, even reversed since the housing collapse began six years ago.

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Politicians may be willing to borrow and pass something like TARP even despite popular opposition if enough economists scream that they must or the global economy will collapse.

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But for some people, ingesting something that even accidentally touched tree nuts or peanuts could result in anaphylaxis, a severe reaction that can lead to blocked airways, cardiovascular collapse, and even death.

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