One Year After Lehman (DER SPIEGEL 09/17/2009)

[Call Me Wesley]

It's Business as Usual Again for Wall Street's Casino Capitalists


Lehman Brothers collapsed on Sept. 15, 2008, sending shock waves through the world's financial system.

By SPIEGEL Staff

One year after the bankruptcy of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, governments are divided over what lessons should be learned from the crisis. But the more the economy recovers, the less desire there is to implement radical reforms -- and many bankers have already returned to their old casino capitalism ways.

Everything moves faster on Wall Street, whether it's winning, losing -- or forgetting.

On New York's Seventh Avenue, between 49th Street and 50th Street, there is no evidence today to suggest that this is where the investment bank Lehman Brothers had its offices until a year ago.

The digital screen that encircles the front of the building has been reprogrammed, to reflect the change from the past to the future. The background color is now blue instead of green, and the name on the screen is no longer Lehman Brothers, but Barclays Capital, the building's new owner. The financial world hates losers.

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