Re-shaping the economy

R.I.P. Lehman. The death of one of Wall Street's biggest names has shocked the system, sending bank shares plummeting and credit markets into a spin. The collapse of Lehman has almost rendered inconsequential the US government's billion-dollar rescue of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Lehman, having survived the panic of 1907, the Great Depression in the 1930s, the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, and the implosion of the tech boom, could not survive the pressure of the credit crisis. The bank's collapse had been anticipated for some time by investors, but markets were...