Less than two months ago, the renowned British travel agency Thomas Cook laid off more than 21,000 employees the world over and liquidated its assets, bringing to an end an era that lasted 178 years. At the time they folded, the company was pulling in more than £9.5 billion in revenue per year and making a profit of £163 million—a hardly partly sum. In the past few years, we have seen many corporate behemoths—companies “too big to fail”—failing spectacularly. Lehman Brothers, Saab Automobile, General Motors, Compaq, Sears, Blockbuster were once industry leaders, but fell to the point where bankruptcy was their only solution.

Seiganto-ji, built in 593 CE was the first Buddhist temple to be built in Japan. Image credit: Nattee Chalermtiragool/Shutterstock.com