Europe should learn Lehman lesson

By Mark Gilbert | China Daily | Updated: 2009-12-24 08:06

Traffic passes the offices of Barclays Capital, formerly the headquarters of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, in New York. Letting Lehman collapse wasn't the problem. The guardians of financial stability bungled because they had earlier backstopped Bear Stearns Cos with a $29 billion dowry. Bloomberg News

There's a theory making the rounds comparing Greece with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Letting Lehman go broke, the story goes, was the worst policy error of the credit crisis; with that lesson learned, the global authorities will do anything to stop a European Union member from defaulting.