Bankruptcy is a process that depends on a variety of structural, fiscal, and human variables. These variables are different at every company. Ttherefore, the pattern of companies declaring bankruptcy should be random. Yet tax records from 2010 demonstrate a pattern: a large number of companies throughout the United States declared bankruptcy at the same time. Which of the following, if true, forms the best basis for at least a partial explanation for the pattern of bankruptcy shown by the tax records? ['Certain financial problems affect only some types of businesses with particular sets of characteristics unique to their industry.', 'Many companies go bankrupt because the economies of the states in which they are located force them to go into gradual but increasing debt.', 'Patterns of bankruptcy emerge when widespread economic issues affect numerous companies.', 'Companies without franchises in more than one country are more likely to declare bankruptcy.']