On 15 September 2008, the day Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, every country is hit by an economic crisis. The road to it comes as news on the historical dates: New Century Financial, the credit crunch, the run on Northern Rock, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Each country gets one of four tiers, by how exposed it was: Severe (-25% stability and factory output, -35% construction, -30% political power), Major, Moderate or Mild (-6% stability and factory output). Anyone not singled out gets Mild.
Recovery: every country has a Recovering from 2008 branch, or its own tree's recovery focuses - each second focus of a tier eases the crisis by one tier, and the last removes it. Members of the European Union share the European Recovery branch instead.
How to play it: you can see it coming. Get the factories and the stability you need before September 2008, and keep the political power for the recovery focuses.