Lehman Brothers, Hank Paulson and me
I have been feeling a bit guilty recently about whether I am partly to blame for the global financial crisis.
My guilt relates to the column I wrote on September 10 - which seems like an eternity ago – urging Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, not to rescue Lehman Brothers. Since then, the received wisdom has become that Lehman’s demise set off the crisis that is still unfolding. Read more
The end of prudence at the Scottish banks
Royal Bank of Scotland is only one of the British banks facing being nationalised by the UK government as a way to prop it up. But its downfall, along with the departure of Fred Goodwin, its chief executive, is the greatest.
The rise of the Scottish banks – HBOS, the group that includes Bank of Scotland – is also receiving an injection of public funds – was one outcome of the last British banking crisis in the early 1990s. They gained a reputation among investors for having handled that downturn better than the English clearing banks. Read more
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John Gapper is an associate editor and the chief business commentator of the FT.
He has worked for the FT since 1987, covering labour relations, banking and the media. He is co-author, with Nicholas Denton, of 'All That Glitters', an account of the collapse of Barings in 1995.
Andrew Hill is an associate editor and the management editor of the FT. He is a former City editor, financial editor, comment and analysis editor, New York bureau chief, foreign news editor and correspondent in Brussels and Milan.
Latest columns by John and Andrew