Lehman Brothers had two distinct histories: one of a migrant1 family and its descendants who created an American success story, the other of the contemporary Wall Street types who threw it all away. Behind this sad tale lie what we might call the 10 lessons of Lehman.
雷曼兄弟的历史由两个截然不同的部分组成：其中一部分是一个移民家庭及 其后代谱写了一段美国式的成功故事，另一部分是当代华尔街人士把他们的成功 彻底葬送。我们或许可以把这个悲剧背后的教训称为“雷曼十训”。
1. Always have an exit route. The original brothers Lehman came to the U.S. from Bavaria in the 1840s, peddling household goods on the byways of the south before setting up as cotton brokers in Montgomery, Alabama. As the American civil war approached, they widened their options and began moving north to New York, where they established their bank. In September 2008 the final head of Lehman, Dick Fuld, had no such alternatives as he waited for destruction to close in.
第一，要始终留有退路。最初的雷曼兄弟是19世纪40年代从德国巴伐利亚移居 美国的。他们先是在美国南部走街串巷兜售日用品,后来在阿拉巴马州的蒙哥马利 当起了棉花经纪人，建立起自己的事业。美国内战临近时，他们拓宽了自己的选择, 开始北上纽约，在那里建立了自己的银行。而2008年9月，雷曼最后一位掌门人迪 克?富尔德在等待毁灭来临之时,却没有这样的退路。
2. Be on the inside. Lehman Brothers had the ear of presidents from Teddy Roosevelt to Richard Nixon but lost such links when bond traders in the mould of Mr Fuld took over in the 1980s. These were merchants of fast transactions rather than long-built relationships. Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, has nurtured relations with government sine? the 1930s. When Hank Paulson, the Bush administration Treasury secretary and former head of Goldman, distributed bail-out funds after the crash of 2008, his old company won a generous share. Lehman Brothers went to the wall.
第二 ’政府里要有人。从泰迪?罗斯福到理査德?尼克松’雷曼兄弟跟历任美国 总统都说得上话，但自从20世纪80年代,富尔德之流的债券交易员接掌雷曼后，此 类联络就中断了。这些商人注重短线交易，而不关心长期建立起来的关系。相比之 下，自20世纪30年代以来，高盛一直呵护着与政府的关系。2008年危机爆发后，当小 布什政府的财政部长、高盛前掌门人汉克?保尔森分发纾困资金时，他的老东家分 得了很大一份，而雷曼兄弟却陷人倒闭。
3. Herbert Lehman would never have let it happen. Industrialist, banker and partner at Lehman Brothers, Herbert Lehman was the governor of New York who with President Franklin D. Roosevelt built the New Deal of the 1930s. He believed bank failures turned the crash of 1929 into the Great Depression. Rather than letting his family bank or others go under, he would have saved and rigorously regulated them.
第三,赫伯特?雷曼绝不会让这一悲剧发生a作为实业家、银行家和雷曼兄弟合 伙人，赫伯特?雷曼曾任纽约州州长,与总统富兰克林*罗斯福一起打造了 20世纪30 年代的新政。他相信，银行倒闭将1929年的危机转变成了大萧条。他不会让自己家 族的银行或其他银行倒闭，而会拯救它们’严格监管它们。
4. Invest long term. Lehman Brothers financed much of 20th-century America: Pan American Airways, Philip Morris, Hertz Corporation. It sponsored the rise of American retail through Sears and Roebuck, Woolworths and Macy’s of New York. In Hollywood, it was the money behind films such as Gone with the Wind. All that disappeared years later when it fell into the hands of short-termists intent on immediate profit.
第四，要做长线投资3雷曼兄弟为20世纪的美国提供了大量资金:泛美航空、菲 利普莫里斯公司、赫兹公司0通过西尔斯罗巴克、伍尔沃斯和纽约的梅西百货等例 子可以看出，雷曼兄弟帮助了美国零售业的崛起。在好莱坞，《乱世佳人》等许多影 片的背后都有雷曼的资金。但多年后，当雷曼兄弟落人急功近利、眼光短浅之辈手 中后,所有这些都消失了。
5. “Grabbing and greed can go on for just so long, but the breaking point is bound to come sometime.” Herbert Lehman again, by now senator2 from New York and speaking of the perils of giant business shortly before he retired in 1957. Today’s banking bonus culture might have left him lost for words.
第五，“掠夺和贪婪尽管横行,但崩盘的时刻终有一天会到来。”我们又说到了 赫伯特?雷曼’这是时任纽约州参议员的他在1957年退休前不久谈及巨型企业的危险时说的话。今天的银行业奖金文化或许会让他不知该说什么好。