??? 2008年9月15日是金融危機(jī)的分水嶺時刻，自此世界大部分地區(qū)經(jīng)濟(jì)持續(xù)不振，至今仍在復(fù)蘇之中。當(dāng)天，政府官員做了緊急安排，投資銀行美林（Merrill Lynch）賣給美國銀行（Bank of America），同時批準(zhǔn)另一家銀行雷曼兄弟申請破產(chǎn)。

????雷曼兄弟倒閉給全球金融體系帶來極大沖擊波，加速了危機(jī)蔓延，直到10月10日七國集團(tuán)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人會晤，同時承諾不再讓任何具有系統(tǒng)重要性的金融機(jī)構(gòu)倒閉。這項(xiàng)承諾促使不良資產(chǎn)救助計(jì)劃（“TARP”）最終得以通過，而這項(xiàng)飽受詬病的銀行救助計(jì)劃（雖然在政治上不受歡迎）最終幫助全球避免了大蕭條式的衰退。

????下面是2012年伯南克關(guān)于美聯(lián)儲應(yīng)對危機(jī)的演講幻燈片中的一頁。本頁內(nèi)容顯示，當(dāng)時各國協(xié)調(diào)一致的行動幫助平息了金融市場，同時減輕了危機(jī)的嚴(yán)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:????????

????這個圖表顯示的是銀行間隔夜拆借利率，它是衡量金融系統(tǒng)整體壓力的極佳指標(biāo)。雖然拆借利率自2007年年中開始處于高位，但確實(shí)是雷曼兄弟的倒閉使得金融市場陷入恐慌模式，是政府提供支持的承諾讓市場最終趨于平靜，同時為復(fù)蘇創(chuàng)造了條件。

????有鑒于此，當(dāng)時甚至根本沒有嘗試過動用任何可調(diào)動的政府權(quán)力來拯救雷曼兄弟，這樣的決定十分可疑。伯南克和其他官員都聲稱，當(dāng)時他們手頭沒有拯救雷曼所需的工具。就財(cái)政部而言，可能確實(shí)如此。當(dāng)時TARP尚未通過，財(cái)政部長保爾森沒有足夠資金注入雷曼，而后來TARP計(jì)劃通過之后可以用錢救助其他主要銀行。

????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.