Which U.S. financial crisis followed the failure of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008?

The failure of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, helped trigger the global financial crisis.

Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy after suffering heavy losses connected to U.S. subprime mortgages and mortgage-linked securities. Its collapse was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history at that time and sharply increased fear about the solvency of banks and other financial institutions.

The crisis had developed earlier through falling house prices, risky lending, securitization, excessive leverage, and the freezing of short-term credit markets. After Lehman failed, stock markets plunged, governments guaranteed deposits and debts, and central banks supplied emergency liquidity. The downturn spread into the real economy through job losses, reduced lending, and falling investment.

Lehman’s failure was a landmark event, not the sole beginning of the crisis. Bear Stearns had already been rescued in March 2008, and the U.S. housing and credit problems had been visible for more than a year.