The main difference is how closely linked the world economies are now than they were in the 70s. Additionally, CDOs made it nearly impossible to separate the su

The main difference is how closely linked the world economies are now than they were in the 70s. Additionally, CDOs made it nearly impossible to separate the subprime mortgages from the prime ones or even performing mortgates from non performing ones. Because of the incredibly complex nature of CDOs and the close linkage between financial instruments and world economies, the subprime crisis is (was) not so much a magnifier as the first domino.