Letting Lehman Go: Critique, Social Change, and the Demise of Lehman Brothers

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

The collapse of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers marked the escalation point of the financial crisis of 2008. Yet, while the consequences of the collapse are widely discussed, the developments that led to Lehman Brothers’ demise have yet to be dealt with from a sociological perspective. In this paper, we tackle this research gap by asking why Lehman Brothers – as opposed to other ailing banks – was not saved by the US regulators. We will show that mounting pressure from public opinion caused a shift in the risk perception on the side of the regulators. Initially oriented towards the economic risk associated with a potential failure of Lehman Brothers, the critique of the 2008 bailouts prompted regulators to weight the political risks of further bailouts over the economic risk of the bank’s collapse. Thus, we argue that the social change brought about by the collapse of Lehman Brothers was critique-induced.

Object Details

• Alternative title: Lehman fallen lassen: Kritik, sozialer Wandel und der Untergang der Lehman Brothers
• ISSN: 0172-6404
• Extent: Seite(n): 196-217
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Historical Social Research, 42(3)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Wirtschaft ; Soziologie, Anthropologie ; Allgemeine Soziologie, Makrosoziologie, spezielle Theorien und Schulen, Entwicklung und Geschichte der Soziologie ; Wirtschaftssektoren ; Kreditinstitut ; Markt ; politisches Handeln ; Kritik ; Geschäftsmodell ; Fremdfinanzierung ; Insolvenz ; Investition ; Risikokapital ; öffentliche Meinung ; wirtschaftlicher Erfolg ; Regulierung ; Bankenaufsicht ; Immobilien ; USA ; sozialer Wandel ; Bank ; Finanzkrise ; politischer Akteur ; Investitionsverhalten ; Wohnungsmarkt

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Dosdall, Henrik ; Rom-Jensen, Byron Z.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Deutschland
• (when): 2017

Further information

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.42.2017.3.196-217
• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-54645-3
• Rights: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
• Last update: 21.06.2024, 4:26 PM CEST