THIS is the best part, thks Slumurgian....
Federal government oicials decided not to rescue Lehman for a variety of
reasons, including the lack of a private irm willing and able to acquire it, uncertainty about Lehman’s potential losses, concerns about moral hazard and political
reaction, and erroneous assumptions that Lehman’s failure would have a manageable impact on the inancial system because market participants had anticipated
it. After the fact, they justiied their decision by stating that the Federal Reserve
did not have legal authority to rescue Lehman.
The inconsistency of federal government decisions in not rescuing Lehman after having rescued Bear Stearns and the GSEs, and immediately before rescuing
AIG, added to uncertainty and panic in the inancial markets.