Propad Lehman Brothers septembra 2008 pomeni uradni izbruh finančne krize v razvitih državah. Takojšnja posledica propada Lehmana je bil kolaps na borzah ter zamrznitev veleprodajnih medbančnih kreditnih trgov (medsebojne prodaje sredstev oziroma zadolževanja med bankami). Posledično je večina bank v zahodnih državah zašla v težave z likvidnostjo, saj so bile izpostavljene s kratkoročnimi krediti, ki jih zaradi kolapsa medbančnega trga niso mogle refinancirati. To je za seboj potegnilo kreditni krč (zamrznitev kreditov gospodarstvu) in najhujšo gospodarsko recesijo po drugi svetovni vojni. To, da so ameriške monetarne oblasti leta 2008 dovolile, da je Lehman Brothers šel v stečaj, se danes smatra kot ena večjih napak operativne ekonomske politike. No, problem je, da tega takrat večinoma vsi niso videli na  enak način, pač pa so finančnemu ministru Hanku Paulsonu in Fed kot regulatorju ploskali ob “pravilni odločitvi”.

Paul Krugman je bil nekoliko, hm, nesramen in je za predavanje na Princetonu izbrskal nekaj izjav znanih ekonomistov. Med njimi Kena Rogoffa in Vinca Reinharta. Vince Reinhart je mož Karmen Reinhart, ki je s Kenom Rogoffom leta 2010 objavila tisto, hm, sramotno slabo narejeno historično študijo, kako visok javni dolg nad 90% BDP negativno vpliva na rast BDP. Seveda so njune rezultate nato razcefrali, nazadnje tudi IMF. Torej:

Vince Reinhart:

The resources of the U.S. government are vast, but not unlimited. Thus far this year, officials have put federal funds at risk to facilitate the takeover of an investment bank, Bear Stearns, and to provide unconditional support to two government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

At some point, the government had to say enough. That point came this weekend.

…

Those judgments can be second-guessed. But one thing is clear: Lehman did not cast a long enough shadow over markets to warrant support. And Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his colleagues are to be congratulated for the courage to make that determination.

Ken Rogoff:

No More Creampuffs
The Government Is Willing to Let Wall Street Firms Fail. That’s Good.

…

This past weekend, the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve finally made it abundantly clear that they won’t bail out every significant financial firm in America. Certainly this came as a rude shock to many financiers. In allowing the nation’s fourth-largest investment bank, Lehman Brothers, to file for bankruptcy, and by forcefully indicating that they are prepared to see even more bankruptcies, our financial regulators showed Wall Street that they are not such creampuffs after all.

…

By allowing firms that took excessive risks to fail, regulators also reduce the political pressure to overregulate the system in the aftermath of the crisis. Let’s hope they hang tough for at least a little while longer.

Vir: Paul Krugman

Zakaj to navajam? Zato, ker je to ena izmed ključnih in zelo bolečih lekcij, da je pri oblikovanju ekonomske politike treba imeti pred očmi širše ekonomske in družbene (celo globalne) posledice in da je akademikom, ki živijo bodisi v svojih omejenih modelčkih in učbenikih bodisi zganjajo ekonomski puritanizem iz ideoloških razlogov, treba včasih reči, naj bodo tiho in ne govorijo neumnosti. Ukrepi ekonomske politike nikoli niso niti teoretsko “čisti” niti poceni, toda še bistveno dražje je, če ekonomska politika ne ukrepa. Naša bančna kriza in gospodarska recesija je tak šolski primer velike napake zaradi neukrepanja tedanje vlade.