Lehman Brothers

Should we have bailed them out?

I think so.

It was really the initial explosion that triggered the panic.

If they had saved those first two firms, and then used bailouts and damage control the collapse of 2008 could have been spread out instead of every industry getting hammered for 2 years.

But I guess ultimately it wouldn't have changed TOO much. The shit securities and loan defaults had to be atoned for.

>talking as if we aren't sucking lehman' cock for money
>believing we had an option

The system was doomed before 2007. Letting Lehman collapse made a pretty clear statement pre-recession: the government will kindly watch you die. It moved a lot of banks in the direction of playing safe during 2008-2009, up until Dodd-Frank explicitly enforced stricter regulation. If Lehman had been bailed out, it still would have eventually failed (similar to Bear Sterns).

Bailing out AIG, however, was essential, and could not be avoided.

can anyone tell me how much the govt has profited so far from QE?

The avoided a great depression v2.0 and thus 'profited' by not losing a huge chunk of their tax revenue.

Counterpoint:
Now that everyone knows the lengths the government will go to to avoid another great depression, profit can be made at their expense.

Counter-point. The OLA, FSOC, and the Fed, under the powers issued by Dodd-Frank, will be more than capable of forcing other banks to cover future bailouts.

trick question: i know the answer
and there is a positive number for the answer
since the short time the govt has been in profit, they've profited about .3% of the us gdp

Yeah I meant as an investor you could profit from it.