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Curated by Project Syndicate

The Lehman Legacy

11 commentaries

The collapse in 2008 of US investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, with millions still suffering from the economic downturn and high unemployment that followed. Why, five years later, has regulatory reform lagged and economic recovery remained elusive?

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  1. Did Capitalism Fail?
    People walk past the New York Stock Exchange Drew Angerer/Getty Images

    Did Capitalism Fail?

    Sep 13, 2013 Roman Frydman & Michael D. Goldberg argue that 2008's near-meltdown was a failure of contemporary economic models' understanding of the role of financial markets in capitalist economies.

  2. Five Years of Financial Non-Reform
    pa3437c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Five Years of Financial Non-Reform

    Sep 13, 2013 Anat R. Admati on the politics of banking regulation.

  3. Learning from Lehman
    pa1422c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Learning from Lehman

    Sep 11, 2013 Liu Mingkang

  4. The Failure of Free-Market Finance
    pa3850c.jpg Paul Lachine

    The Failure of Free-Market Finance

    Sep 4, 2013 Adair Turner

  5. Lehman’s Morbid Legacy
    tb0439c.jpg Tim Brinton

    Lehman’s Morbid Legacy

    Aug 27, 2013 Mohamed A. El-Erian

  6. The Global QE Exit Crisis

    The Global QE Exit Crisis

    Aug 26, 2013 Stephen S. Roach

  1. deryugina1_BEN BIRCHALLPOOLAFP via Getty Images_ukraineflagsoldier Ben Birchall/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

    Ukraine Is Far From Doomed

    Tatyana Deryugina & Anastassia Fedyk

    When comparing Ukraine’s situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible. But it will require the West, and the US in particular, to put aside domestic political squabbles and muster the political will to provide Ukraine with consistent and robust military and financial assistance.

    compare Russia's full-scale invasion to World War II and see reason to hope – as long as aid keeps flowing.
  2. glennerster2_Scott OlsonGetty Images)_vaccines Scott Olson/Getty Images)

    The Pandemic Financing Developing Countries Need

    Rachel Glennerster urges multilateral development banks to establish mechanisms that enable at-risk vaccine purchases.
  3. krueger74_AFP via Getty Images_nigercoup AFP via Getty Images

    The Geopolitics of Africa’s Debt Crisis

    Anne O. Krueger urges developed countries to back efforts by the IMF and the World Bank to promote growth-enhancing reforms.
  4. palacio156_ Georg Moritzpicture alliance via Getty Images_immigation Georg Moritz/picture alliance via Getty Images

    Why the EU’s New Migration Pact Matters

    Ana Palacio applauds the pragmatic coalition-building, especially by Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, that enabled the deal.
  5. kirchschlager1_Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_AI Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images

    AI Needs UN Oversight

    Peter G. Kirchschläger calls for the creation of a watchdog – similar to the IAEA – that employs a human rights-based approach.
  6. chellaney_VCGVCG via Getty Images_china military VCG/VCG via Getty Images

    The West Is Hastening Its Own Decline

    Brahma Chellaney argues that the unprecedented US and European sanctions against Russia are backfiring.
  7. zizek29_Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images_palestine congress germany Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images

    Canceling Palestine

    Slavoj Žižek

    Current debates about Israeli policy are rife with double standards, leading to absurd decisions like Germany’s recent cancellation of a pro-Palestinian gathering. By quashing legitimate speech and assembly, an Israel-aligned establishment risks inciting precisely the kind of anti-Semitism that it wants to prevent.

    worries that the double standards applied on Israel’s behalf will lead to an anti-Semitic backlash.
  8. ackerman2_Brian van der Brug  Los Angeles Times via Getty Images_preschool Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

    America’s Childcare Is Unfit for the Postmodern Age

    Bruce Ackerman urges US President Joe Biden to put universal preschool at the center of his re-election campaign.
  9. acemoglu72_ Hulton ArchiveGetty Images_cottonhandweaving Hulton Archive/Getty Images

    History Already Tells Us the Future of AI

    Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson find policy lessons for the 2020s in the work of the early-nineteenth-century economist David Ricardo.

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