The bubble which has been morphing in to new forms for years and years (in recent times, it was a technology bubble and a housing bubble) has now turned into a sovereign debt bubble.
There are various means to reduce the burden of the debt (write-off, inflation, demand expansion or whatever), but you have to do something - because time ain't your friend in these circumstances.
There really is a good possibility of a global depression here with the failure of little states and then of bigger ones.