Why did the collapse of Lehman Brothers become the iconic event of the 2008 crisis?

好的，我们来聊聊雷曼兄弟这个事儿。

想象一下，你和一群朋友在玩一个叠叠乐（Jenga）游戏，整个积木塔就是全球的金融系统。每一块积木都是一家银行或者金融机构。

雷曼兄弟是谁？

在2008年，雷曼兄弟（Lehman Brothers）可不是一块小积木，它是塔中间最大、最稳固、历史最悠久的积木之一。它是一家拥有158年历史的华尔街巨头，全球第四大投资银行。在大家眼里，它就像金融界的“百年老店”，稳如泰山。

危机是怎么来的？（背景）

在雷曼倒闭前，华尔街正在玩一种“击鼓传花”的危险游戏。

疯狂放贷：银行给很多信用不太好的人也发放了住房贷款（这就是所谓的“次级贷款”）。
打包出售：银行把这些好坏不一的贷款打包成一个看起来很漂亮的金融产品（叫MBS或CDO），然后卖给像雷曼兄弟这样的投资机构。
高风险投资：雷曼兄弟和其他机构买了大量的这种“金融产品”，因为当时房价一直在涨，他们觉得这笔买卖稳赚不赔。

结果，房价突然不涨了，开始下跌。那些本来就没啥钱的房主付不起月供，贷款违约了。多米诺骨牌开始倒下，那些被打包的“漂亮金融产品”瞬间变成了“有毒资产”，一文不值。

为什么雷曼的倒闭是“标志性”的？

这才是问题的关键。在雷曼之前，已经有另一家大公司贝尔斯登（Bear Stearns）快要倒了，但美国政府出手救了它。所以，所有人都觉得，雷曼这么大的公司，简直是“大到不能倒”（Too Big to Fail），政府肯定也会出手相救。

然而，转折点来了。

2008年9月15日，美国政府和美联储做出了一个震惊世界的决定：不救了，让它自己破产吧。

这个决定就像是在叠叠乐游戏中，猛地抽出了中间那块最大最关键的积木。

连锁反应：

信任崩塌：当雷曼倒下的那一刻，整个金融市场都吓傻了。大家心里的想法是：“天啊！连雷曼兄弟都能倒，那还有谁是安全的？” 银行之间、机构之间瞬间失去了信任，谁也不敢把钱借给对方，因为你不知道对方手里是不是也攥着一把“有毒资产”。
信贷冻结：这种恐慌导致了“信贷冻结”。整个金融系统的血液——资金——停止了流动。这就像人体的血液循环突然停止，后果是灾难性的。企业无法获得短期贷款来支付员工工资，工厂无法获得融资来购买原材料，全球经济活动的马达瞬间熄火了。
全球恐慌：雷曼是一家全球性的公司，它的破产引发了全球性的金融海啸。从伦敦到东京，所有市场的投资者都在疯狂抛售资产，股市暴跌。

总结一下

雷曼的倒闭本身不是危机的原因，真正的原因是之前的次贷泡沫。

但它的倒闭是一个引爆点和心理转折点。它把一个已经很严重的房地产和金融问题，彻底变成了一场席卷全球、摧毁信心的金融危机。

在此之前，大家还心存幻想，觉得政府会兜底。在此之后，所有人都陷入了恐慌，意识到整个系统远比想象的要脆弱。所以，雷曼兄弟的破产，就成了2008年那场史诗级金融危机最深刻、最让人难忘的标志。 Okay, let's talk about Lehman Brothers.

Imagine you and a group of friends are playing Jenga, and the entire block tower represents the global financial system. Each block is a bank or financial institution.

Who was Lehman Brothers?

In 2008, Lehman Brothers wasn't just a small block; it was one of the largest, most stable, and oldest blocks in the middle of the tower. It was a Wall Street giant with a 158-year history, the fourth-largest investment bank globally. In everyone's eyes, it was like a "century-old establishment" of the financial world, as solid as a mountain.

How did the crisis unfold? (Background)

Before Lehman's collapse, Wall Street was playing a dangerous game of "hot potato."

Reckless Lending: Banks issued housing loans to many people with poor credit (this was known as "subprime mortgages").
Packaging and Selling: Banks bundled these mixed-quality loans into seemingly attractive financial products (called MBS or CDO) and then sold them to investment firms like Lehman Brothers.
High-Risk Investment: Lehman Brothers and other institutions bought large quantities of these "financial products," believing it was a sure bet because housing prices were constantly rising at the time.

As a result, housing prices suddenly stopped rising and began to fall. Homeowners who already had little money couldn't afford their mortgage payments, leading to loan defaults. The dominoes began to fall, and those bundled "attractive financial products" instantly turned into "toxic assets," becoming worthless.

Why was Lehman's collapse "iconic"?

This is the crux of the matter. Before Lehman, another large company, Bear Stearns, was on the verge of collapse, but the U.S. government intervened and bailed it out. Therefore, everyone believed that a company as large as Lehman, which was "Too Big to Fail," would certainly also be rescued by the government.

However, here came the turning point.

On September 15, 2008, the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve made a world-shocking decision: no bailout; let it go bankrupt.

This decision was like suddenly pulling out the largest and most crucial block from the middle of the Jenga tower.

Chain Reaction:

Collapse of Trust: The moment Lehman fell, the entire financial market was stunned. Everyone thought, "My God! If even Lehman Brothers can collapse, who is safe?" Trust between banks and institutions instantly evaporated. No one dared to lend money to each other, fearing that the counterparty might also be holding "toxic assets."
Credit Freeze: This panic led to a "credit freeze." The lifeblood of the financial system—money—stopped flowing. It was like the human body's blood circulation suddenly stopping, with disastrous consequences. Businesses couldn't get short-term loans to pay employee salaries, factories couldn't get financing to buy raw materials, and the engine of global economic activity instantly stalled.
Global Panic: Lehman was a global company, and its bankruptcy triggered a global financial tsunami. From London to Tokyo, investors in all markets frantically sold off assets, and stock markets plummeted.

In Summary

Lehman's collapse itself wasn't the cause of the crisis; the true cause was the preceding subprime mortgage bubble.

However, its collapse was a trigger point and a psychological turning point. It transformed an already severe real estate and financial problem into a global financial crisis that swept the world and destroyed confidence.

Before this, everyone still harbored illusions that the government would backstop everything. After this, everyone fell into panic, realizing that the entire system was far more fragile than imagined. Thus, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers became the most profound and unforgettable symbol of the epic 2008 financial crisis.