The financial firm Lehman Brothers survived the Civil War, two global military conflicts, the Great Depression and numerous economic declines in their 158 years of life, but it was the mortgage crisis of the twenty-first century finally ended one of the four major financial houses Wall Street.
The fall of Lehman and purchase of Bank of americas of another financial giant, Merryll Lynch, shakes investor confidence, which is very bad for an economy that does not stop to recover.
Both financial embarked on complex and risky investments, in addition to its portfolio of real estate values declined.
The federal government rescued weeks ago to institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the grounds that its fall would have serious consequences for the economy. In the case of Lehman, the federal government acted properly in refusing to repeat the rescue.
We must remove the impression that it is acceptable that the earnings are closed when all amiss and then the losses are from taxpayers when there is crisis.
The origin of the problems can be traced back to that deregulatory movement, especially in the 90's, shot down barriers erected after the Great Depression. Times change, but remains the irresponsibility of those who bet on risky investments from savings in others.
Wall Street is no longer only refuge of wealthy, there are millions of Americans their savings and their pensions. It is essential to provide liquidity to the markets to stabilize and then create a regulatory reform to restore investor confidence.
