Which 2008 crisis began with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and became a global stock-market crash?

The 2008 crisis was the Global Financial Crisis, a worldwide financial shock centered on housing and credit markets.

The crisis grew from the United States housing bubble, risky mortgage lending, complex mortgage securities, and excessive leverage across financial institutions. When housing prices fell and borrowers defaulted, losses spread through banks and credit markets. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, intensifying the panic.

Stock markets around the world plunged as investors feared bank failures, recession, and frozen credit. Governments and central banks responded with emergency lending, bank rescues, fiscal stimulus, and unusually low interest rates.

The crisis is often dated from 2007 to 2008 rather than to Lehman’s failure alone. Lehman was a major escalation point, not the original cause. The recession that followed became the deepest global downturn since the Great Depression.