If you follow the link, the article that NPR is quoting is more specific: "...the economic and financial crisis is likely to rank in the top 10, possibly top 3,

If you follow the link, the article that NPR is quoting is more specific: "...the economic and financial crisis is likely to rank in the top 10, possibly top 3, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century." The rest of the article gives the figures on the plummeting GDP and rising misery.