The financial markets became much more cautious following the default of financial institutions in the fall of 2008. The lack of risk appetite by financial firms led to a sharp increase in the cost of hedging risk. This affected firms, municipalities, states and countries that had high indebtedness. For example, Greece saw its cost of funds increasing sharply.When the Great Recession hit Greece the government needed to borrow more as taxes decreased and the cost of social programs increased. However, the international financial market demanded high interest rates to lend money to a highly indebted country. In May, 2010 Greece had no choice but to ask the IMF for assistance. In the next section, we look at how the role of the IMF has changed from supervising the Bretton Woods system to a lender of last resort.