La teoría matemática del caos explica esta dependencia basándose en condiciones iniciales remotas y aparentemente triviales, y explica por qué incluso la extrapolación de movimientos planetarios aparentemente precisos se vuelve prácticamente imposible si se intenta para un futuro demasiado lejano.
For, in a complicated economic system that feeds back on itself in many ways, events that start a vicious cycle might be as seemingly trivial as the proverbial butterfly in the Amazon, which, by flapping its wings, sets off a chain of events that eventually results in a far-away hurricane.