Ten years have passed since the default of Lehman Brothers, which was a turning point in the global financial crisis that had started earlier on, in the summer of 2007. The crisis spread rapidly from the structured products market linked to US subprime mortgages to all financial markets, and ultimately to the real economy, sparking the worst global recession since World War II.
The policy makers' reaction to these extraordinary developments was quick and remarkably well-coordinated. Central banks around the world rapidly lowered official interest rates, and injected liquidity in unprecedented quantities and through a wide range of monetary policy instruments. Fiscal policies became expansionary and supportive of the real and financial sectors, and more serious negative consequences were avoided.