The media has been obsessed with the one-year anniversary of the demise of Lehman Brothers. The big question is whether it was a mistake to let Lehman Brothers fail. A lot of people think it was and that direct responsibility rests with then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

A new book A Colossal Failure of Common Sense, by Lawrence McDonald, argues that the real mistake was saving Bear Stearns in such a dramatic fashion. It "was in the same leaking boat as Lehman with far worse debt and no hope." Paulson practically ordered JPMorgan Chase "to loan Bear Stearns a large amount of cash, and then five days later to buy" Lehman. "When Paulson gave the lifeboat to Bear Stearns, it gave Lehman's CEO Richard S. Fuld a deadly, false sense of confidence." The rest is history. 

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