First, establish if a firm is so large or so entangled within the financial system that its unexpected failure could be catastrophic.

ECONOMIST: Saving Wall Street

It begins with an unexpected, persistent failure of the economy to grow.

WSJ: Jenkins: Lost Decade, Revisited

One or two have been unexpected successes, and early predictions of failure have proved inaccurate.

BBC: Is Blair a butcher?

In a world of more and more uncertainty and rapid change, it is those unexpected encounters that can make the difference between success and failure.

FORBES: The Limits of the Virtual: Why Stores and Conferences Won't Go Away

It means that on his first trip outside the U.S., Obama is facing unexpected tensions with instinctive allies and the possibility of being associated with discord and failure.

CNN: Analysis: Crisis may lead to new world order