Two Years Ago: The Fall of Lehman Brothers

Published in Le Monde
(France) on 15 September 2010
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Mylène Perdreau. Edited by Heidi Kaufmann.
Two years ago, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers caused the collapse of the markets and the global financial crisis — a first since 1929. A few days before its fall, as Patrick Jolivet reminded us, rating agencies had rated Lehman Brothers as an "A." To Jacques Cossart, Jean-Marie Harribey and Dominique Plihon, the traditional regulations did not withstand the financial crisis.

We need to tackle the problem at its root. That is to say, we need an accountable and efficient regulation of the global economy, according to Laurent Fabius. Not really, Charles Wyplosz replied to him. In order to curb the financial crisis, it is banks' profits that must be controlled, not bonuses. Liberalism is a cure to the crisis, Nicolas Baverez retorted.

On the contrary, the "appalled economists" claimed that the dominant thinking patterns that have been directing economic policies for 30 years have to change. Besides, it is sick, Pierre-Henry Leroy said, that governments rescue speculators with taxpayers' money.


Il y a deux ans la banqueroute de la banque Lehman Brothers provoquait l'effondrement des marchés et la crise financière mondiale. Du jamais vu depuis 1929. Quelques jours avant sa chute, les agences de notation, rappelle Patrick Jolivet, avaient donné un "A" à la banque Lehman Brothers… Pour Jacques Cossart, Jean-Marie Harribey et Dominique Plihon, les régulations traditionnelles n'ont pas résisté à la crise financière. Il faut s'attaquer à la racine du mal. A savoir une régulation assumée et efficace de l'économie mondiale, estime Laurent Fabius. Pas vraiment, lui répond Charles Wyplosz, pour juguler la crise financière, ce sont les profits des banques qu'il faut contrôler, pas les bonus. Car le libéralisme est un remède à la crise, réplique Nicolas Baverez. Au contraire, les "économistes atterrés" affirment qu'il faut changer la domination des schémas de pensée qui orientent les politiques économiques depuis trente ans. Et puis, il est malsain, estime Pierre-Henry Leroy, que les Etats sauvent les spéculateurs avec l'argent des contribuables.
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