La crisis financiera que afecto a la economia norteamericana, y en general a las economias de la mayoria de paises desarrollados, cuyo origen se senalo inicialmente en la titularizacion de cartera hipotecaria subprime tuvo causas mas complejas que posiblemente los supervisores, las agencias calificadoras, los bancos, los inversionistas institucionales y otros agentes economicos no vislumbraron en sus justas dimensiones. El crecimiento economico genero una liquidez en la economia mundial que dio lugar a una disminucion de spreads por plazo y por riesgo, que se acompano con el desarrollo de innovaciones financieras y con un aumento en el apetito por riesgo de muchos inversionistas, que los llevo a tomar decisiones inadecuadas para su perfil de riesgo. La globalizacion de la economia le dio a la crisis unas dimensiones insospechables en otras epocas y puso en evidencia desafios extraordinarios a quienes deberian enfrentar esta crisis, lo cual ha llevado a plantear cambios profundos en la regulacion y supervision de los sistemas financieros. En el articulo se analizan los antecedentes, los desarrollos, las medidas adoptadas y los futuros previsibles de la crisis, en la economia mundial, con enfasis en Estados Unidos, finalizando con un analisis de la situacion de Colombia frente a la crisis. Abstract: The financial crisis that affected the North American economy, and in general the economies of most of the developed countries, which origin was initially pointed out in the securitization of mortgage portfolio subprime, has more complex causes that perhaps the supervisors, the certifying agencies, the banks, the institutional investors and other economic agents, didn’t discern in their right dimensions. The economic growth generated a liquidity in the worldwide economy that gave rise to a decrease of spreads by period and by risk*, that came along with the development of financial innovations and with an increase in the appetite for risk of many investors, that led them to make the wrong decisions for their risk profile. The globalization of the economy gave the crisis some dimensions that were unsuspected in other times and it showed up extraordinary challenges for those who must face this crisis, which has led to set out deep changes in the regulation and supervision of the financial systems. This article analyzes the backgrounds, the developments, the measures taken and the foreseeable futures of the crisis, in the worldwide economy, with emphasis in the United States, concluding with an analysis of the situation of Colombia, regarding the crisis.