美联储会议纪要：伯南克故意放任雷曼倒闭

    2008年9月15日是金融危机的分水岭时刻，自此世界大部分地区经济持续不振，至今仍在复苏之中。当天，政府官员做了紧急安排，投资银行美林（Merrill Lynch）卖给美国银行（Bank of America），同时批准另一家银行雷曼兄弟申请破产。

    雷曼兄弟倒闭给全球金融体系带来极大冲击波，加速了危机蔓延，直到10月10日七国集团领导人会晤，同时承诺不再让任何具有系统重要性的金融机构倒闭。这项承诺促使不良资产救助计划（“TARP”）最终得以通过，而这项饱受诟病的银行救助计划（虽然在政治上不受欢迎）最终帮助全球避免了大萧条式的衰退。

    下面是2012年伯南克关于美联储应对危机的演讲幻灯片中的一页。本页内容显示，当时各国协调一致的行动帮助平息了金融市场，同时减轻了危机的严重性：

    September 15, 2008 was a watershed moment for the financial crisis that consigned much of the world to an economic malaise from which we are still recovering. That day, government officials hastily arranged a sale of investment bank Merrill Lynch to Bank of America (BAC), while another bank -- Lehman Brothers -- was allowed to file for bankruptcy.

    The failure of Lehman Brothers sent shockwaves through the global financial system, accelerating the crisis until leaders of the seven largest economies met on Oct. 10 and pledged to not let any more systemically important financial institutions go under. This promise led to the eventual passage of TARP and the much-maligned bank bailouts that, while politically unpopular, helped the world avoid a Great Depression-style meltdown.

    Here's a slide from Ben Bernanke's 2012 lecture on the Federal Reserve's response to the crisis. It shows just how much this concerted action helped calm financial markets and dampen the severity of the crisis:        

    这个图表显示的是银行间隔夜拆借利率，它是衡量金融系统整体压力的极佳指标。虽然拆借利率自2007年年中开始处于高位，但确实是雷曼兄弟的倒闭使得金融市场陷入恐慌模式，是政府提供支持的承诺让市场最终趋于平静，同时为复苏创造了条件。

    有鉴于此，当时甚至根本没有尝试过动用任何可调动的政府权力来拯救雷曼兄弟，这样的决定十分可疑。伯南克和其他官员都声称，当时他们手头没有拯救雷曼所需的工具。就财政部而言，可能确实如此。当时TARP尚未通过，财政部长保尔森没有足够资金注入雷曼，而后来TARP计划通过之后可以用钱救助其他主要银行。

    The chart shows the interest rates banks required to lend to each other overnight, an excellent measure of overall stress in the financial system. While they were at elevated rates going back to the middle of 2007, it was really Lehman's failure that sent financial markets into panic mode and the promise of government backstops that calmed the markets and set the stage for a recovery.

    Given this picture, the decision to not even attempt to use whatever government powers were available to save Lehman Brothers is questionable. Ben Bernanke and other officials have claimed that they did not have the necessary tools to save Lehman. In the case of the Treasury Department, this may be accurate. TARP had not yet been passed and Secretary Hank Paulson didn't have a huge pot of money to pump into Lehman, as it later would with other major banks.