Crisis watch: Lehman’s wrong lesson

“Here’s your money,” is the near universal refrain from the bankers to the politicians. “We want our laissez-faire economy back. If you won’t give it to us, we won’t lend and there won’t be any recovery. And if that’s the case, it will be your fault.”

People have pondered long and hard since last September whether the US government was right to allow Lehman Brothers to collapse. Some believe that it was a reckless act that imperilled the global financial system. Others think it…