Now the U.K. has launched a new phase of crisis and one that will, if followed through with, be revolutionary.
The huge writedowns on trading-book assets that defined the first phase of the crisis were horribly unpredictable.
"The first phase of the crisis marked by adjustments and liquidity problems is finished, " says John Wadsworth, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia in Hong Kong.
Now, the sense among many investors is that the acute phase of the crisis is over and that the single currency area has turned a corner.
The IMF chief, to her credit, was early in the latest phase of the crisis to call for greater bank recapitalization, which would involve an admission of losses and therefore more political and financial pain.
"The success of the next phase of the crisis response will hinge on Europe's willingness and ability... to apply its tools and processes creatively, flexibly and aggressively to support countries as they implement reforms and stay ahead of the markets, " he said.
This new phase of the euro crisis shows, once again, how the underlying causes are political as much as economic.
But even the euro optimists can agree on one thing: Spain will be crucial to how this new, calmer phase of the eurozone crisis plays out.
"The easing recognises that the torrent of new regulation originating from the first phase of the financial crisis has somewhat weighed on economic recovery, in particular in Europe, " he said.
The question is, will the ECB continue along this money printing path to stave off the next phase of the financial crisis if the member countries have shunned their part of the bargain?
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Last summer, after the first phase of the euro crisis saw the rescue of Greece and the creation of a big temporary bail-out fund, the German chancellor rejected French demands for summit meetings at 17.
But if such an increase in financial stress is not caused by the spanking of Cypriot bank creditors, perhaps that should be seen as evidence that the acute financial phase of the euro crisis is over.
Europe is in the first phase of a significant credit crisis, and Asia will follow.
That will bring on phase two of the new crisis: The sluggish U.S. economy will swoon again, ushering in another full recession.
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The newest phase of the European debt crisis has certainly hit bank shares from Germany to the U.S. shares of Citigroup and Deutsche Bank on Thursday fell by more than 7%.
The financial markets are signaling that the acute phase of the euro-zone financial crisis may be over and the crisis may be shifting into a chronic phase or more precisely, a chronic phase with likely acute interludes in which panic escalates.
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"We are entering a new phase in the response of Western and Arab nations to the crisis in Syria, " he said.
According to Nomura, the sovereign debt crisis has entered a third phase characterized by the latest round of capital flight from the south.
At the very least, there is a growing chance that a record rally in corporate debt that began at the height of the credit crisis in 2008 may be entering a new, uncertain phase.
They blamed the global economic crisis and Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident in Japan.
Then after the 2008 financial crisis, there was another phase to the company, which involved the divestiture of the businesses for mobile infrastructure and yellow pages.
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