To recover, the global economy cannot rely on exporting to the U.S. anymore

Sometimes, the global recession looks to be the result of a complex mosaic of different causes and starting points. Other times, it looks as if it took just one link, or chain of events, to set in motion all of the downside that every nation is experiencing today.

That pattern, which wasn't prudent, had businesses around the world borrowing and investing in order to expand operations, as they remained confident in and dependent on sales of goods exported to U.S. consumers.

Of course, economists and other analysts will point out that the above, in-and-of-itself, does not entirely account for the U.S. and global recessions; it says nothing about the Latin America-Europe and Asia-Europe trade linkages, for example.