Main factors and development of the global financial crisis-2008 are generally discussed in the paper. The downturn in one of the local sectors of the US economy has caused major threats to functioning global financial markets. Structural problems of the Russian financial sector (illusion of adequacy) have greatly enhanced negative consequences of the global crisis for the Russian economy. On the global level, main steps to minimize the costs of the crisis should deal with limiting protectionism growth, coordinating measures of economic policy and preventing a hard landing of a large group of economies.