An OpEd appeared in the Monday Financial Times that should give everyone pause, pause while you prepare a double vodka martini or other stiff drink of your choice.

Nouriel Roubini, an economics professor at NYU, paints a pretty grim picture, which as I understand it, a situation so grim that hasty action in Congress is not in anyone's best interest - other than Wall St and the GOP

The shadow banking system is unravelling

We are observing an accelerated run on the shadow banking system that is leading to its unravelling. ...

The real economic side of this financial crisis will be a severe US recession. Financial contagion, the strong euro, falling US imports, the bursting of European housing bubbles, high oil prices and a hawkish European Central Bank will lead to a recession in the eurozone, the UK and most advanced economies.

European financial institutions are at risk of sharp losses because of the toxic US securitised products sold to them; the massive increase in leverage following aggressive risk-taking and domestic securitisation; a severe liquidity crunch exacerbated by a dollar shortage and a credit crunch; the bursting of domestic housing bubbles; household and corporate defaults in the recession; losses hidden by regulatory forbearance; the exposure of Swedish, Austrian and Italian banks to the Baltic states, Iceland and southern Europe where housing and credit bubbles financed in foreign currency are leading to hard landings.

Thus the financial crisis of the century will also envelop European financial institutions.