麻豆约拍

A look back at the business news over the last 12 months. The year 2008 has been marked by incompetence at major companies and regulators resulting in a sharp downturn in the global economy and a deep murky entanglement of governments and failing private companies that many thought was history. High-profile businesses including Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed and governments scrambled to respond to the crisis. The US government had to bail out AIG - America's largest insurance company, as well as mortgage providers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

(Picture: An Indian stock trader watches his screen in Mumbai on 21 January 2008. Indian share prices tumbled to close down 7.41 percent, the steepest one-day fall ever Credit: Getty Images)