Lehman Brothers Financial Crisis Essay - 1024 Words

The Multimillionaire Men of Lehman Brothers On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. With $639 billion in assets and $619 billion in debt, Lehman s bankruptcy filing was the largest in history, as its assets far surpassed those of previous bankrupt giants such as WorldCom and Enron. Lehman was the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank at the time of its collapse, with 25,000 employees worldwide. The consequences for the world economy were extreme. Lehman’s fall contributed to a loss of confidence in other banks, a worldwide financial crisis and a deep recession in many countries. Lehman s collapse roiled global financial markets for weeks, given the size of the company and its status as a major player in the U.S. and internationally. Many questioned the U.S. government s decision to let Lehman fail, as compared to its tacit support for Bear Stearns, which was acquired by JPMorgan Chase Co. (JPM) in March 2008. Lehman s bankruptcy led to more than $46 billion of its market value being wiped out. Its collapse also served as the catalyst for the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America in an emergency deal that was also announced on September 15. At the height of the 2008 financial crisis, Mr. Lawrence G. McDonald wrote a book on the fall of Lehman Brothers, entitled A Colossal Failure of Common Sense. This book is a risk manager s guide to the right and wrong moves on Wall St., and explains why investors must stay ahead of policies coming outShow MoreRelatedLehman Brothers : Financial Crisis900 Words   |  4 PagesMany financial entities experienced financial trouble as the housing bubble burst and mortgage-backed securities lost significant value, specifically the investment bank Lehman Brothers. The Lehman Brothers filed for Bankruptcy in September 2008. Before filing for bankruptcy and years prior to the housing bubble burst, the Lehman Brothers’ balance sheet was growing rapidly during the beginning of 2006. This was mainly due to the many long-term investments financed through short-term borrowingRead MoreLehman Brothers And The Financial Crisis937 Words   |  4 PagesLehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. on Sept ember 15, 2008 was the fourth- largest U.S. investment bank, which sought Chapter 11 protection, ultimately initiating the largest bankruptcy proceeding in history. Lehman Brothers was very successful in pursuing a high-leverage, high-risk business model to fund its operations. Beginning in 2006, they began to invest aggressively in the real-estate related assets, soon having significant exposures to subprime mortgages, just as the markets were turning for theRead MoreLehman Brothers And The Financial Crisis1365 Words   |  6 PagesWhen the crisis began in the mid-2007 caused by sub-prime bubble, uncertainty among banks about the creditworthiness for their clients and customers deteriorated as they had majorly invested in very complex and overpriced financial products. As a result, the interbank market became volatile and risk premiums on interbank loans increased. Banks faced a serious liquidity problem, as they experienced major difficulties to revolve their short-term debt. At that stage, policymakers still perceived theRead MoreThe Financial Crisis Of Lehman Brothers1948 Words   |  8 Pagesfor which a strong argument can be made as the start of the 2008 financial crisis. Some experts argue that the pivotal moment was the failure of Lehman Brothers, which resulted in a run on financial institutions, while others blame the crisis on the housing bubble that burst in 2007, following years of skyrocketing prices in that market. Digging deeper than the macro issue of the housing bubble, the true cause of the financial crisis can be traced to banks’ incredibly risky policies regarding howRead MoreFinancial Crisis And The Collapse Of The Lehman Brothers2206 Words   |  9 Pagesundergo a financial crisis. Once in a while, it must find it hard to balance its books of accounts. If the situation gets severe, then the organization may even close down. This paper will give a detailed review of one institution -The Lehman Brothers - whose financial crisis l ed to its fall (Wong Smith, 2010). It will examine the beginning, the end, and the outcomes of the same. In addition to that, the report will also analyze the government policies that relate to the fall of the Lehman BrothersRead MoreGlobal Financial Crisis : The Fall Of Lehman Brothers1250 Words   |  5 Pages Global banks indeed play crucial roles in keeping the global economic growth in track. The fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008 as the major factor for the economic downturns leading to the Global Financial Crisis, or 2008 financial crisis, proves this point. Started from the irresponsible handling of mortgages of consumers, the prices of houses in America sank. Interest rates fell while capital ratios became lax. It was a case of impending Great Depression. Given its role of lending funds and providingRead More2008 Financial Crisis - Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac3431 Words   |  14 Pagesto 2009 is an interesting and dramatic time for the financial markets, which marks the beginning of the financial tsunami that went on for a long period of time. First we have Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae taken over by the US Treasury, which is one major event contributing to the subprime mortgage crisis. Then we have the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers which Mamudi (2008) reported to be one of the largest bankruptcy filing in US history with Lehman holding over $600 billion in assets. Then we have theRead MoreWhy The Financial Crisis Was A Specific Law Case Involving Lehman Brothers1333 Words   |  6 Pages 424). Three companies who invested in these CMOs made headlines: Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and American International Group (AIG). This paper will explore what the causes of the financial crisis were, a specific law case involvin g Lehman Brothers, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) and Congress’s responses, and solutions to prevent an event like this from happening again. Bear Stearns Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG invested in subprime mortgage-backed securities, which are loans grantedRead MoreWhy The Financial Crisis Was A Specific Law Case Involving Lehman Brothers1317 Words   |  6 Pagesheadlines: Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG (American International Group). The United States is still recovering from the Great Recession that occurred seven years ago, and it will be talked about for years to come. This paper will explore what the causes of the financial crisis were, a specific law case involving Lehman Brothers, the Federal Reserve and Congress’s responses, and solutions to prevent an event like this from happening again. As stated, Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG investedRead MoreThe Collapse Of The Lehman Brothers1638 Words   |  7 PagesThe global financial crisis of 2008 that reeked havoc on most of the financial institutions had them fall into liquidation and bankruptcy. One of the most popular and most debated incident was the failure of the Lehman Brothers. The Lehman Brothers were a leading US investment bank that was worth $600 billion (D’Arcy). The global financial crisis prompted Lehman Brothers to close its leading subprime lender (BNC Mortages) in 23 locations (). The closing of these locations were so aggressive that

Shoeless Joe Jackson and His Tragedy Free Essays

In the short story â€Å"Shoeless Joe Jackson comes to Iowa†, Kinsella provides insight about a man who loves Iowa, his wife (Annie), his daughter (Karin), and lastly baseball. The setting of the story takes place on a rural farm in Iowa where Ray made a baseball field because he was told by a voice of a baseball announcer â€Å"If you build it, they will come†. (Pickering pg 740) Ray and Annie had bought this farm, years ago, to plant and cultivate corn and to raise their daughter in a safe environment. We will write a custom essay sample on Shoeless Joe Jackson and His Tragedy or any similar topic only for you Order Now Ray, who was a baseball enthusiast, was told to build this field for â€Å"Shoeless† Joe Jackson and his teammates to play baseball. He had no idea on how or why he might even begin to build this great field. So he started small with the field, he built a magnificent left field first for Joe. All the townspeople had heard what Ray was building and they thought he must have been crazy. Because he was taking a big section of his corn field and was turning it into a baseball diamond, he was going to be losing a huge profit in the harvest season for years to come. His remarkable wife went along with these plans and said,†Oh love, if it makes you happy, you should do it. †(Pickering pg 741) So Ray began on this project which took him several months just to build the eft field for Mr. Jackson, whom he had never even met. So when Ray hears the baseball announcers voice â€Å"If you build it they will come†,(Pickering pg. 740) he ,of course, was Shoeless Joe Jackson. Joe was born in Brandon Mills, South Carolina in July of 1887 and died in Greenville, South Carolina in December of 1951. Joe Jackson was the best left fielder that Ty Cobb had ever seen. Joe’s glove is the â€Å"place where triples go to die. †(Pickering pg. 741) Shoeless Joe Jackson was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early 20th century. He will always be remembered by his performance on the field and for is association with the Black Sox Scandal, in which members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. The Black Sox Scandal took place during the 1919 World Series. The conspiracy was the result of the White Sox first baseman Arnold â€Å"Chick† Gandil, whose long lasting ties to the underworld, persuaded a friend who was a gambler that a fix could be pulled off. A New York gangster, Arnold Rothstein, provided the money for the fix. Gandil enlisted several of his teammates, motivated by the dislike of the clubs owner Charles Comisky, whom they perceived as a tightwad, to implement the fix. The owner of the Sox had a reputation for underpaying his players for years. Since some of the guys on the team had ties to the mob, it was easy for them to start to resent other players who were straight-laced and followed the rules. There were a total of 8 players involved in the fix of the World Series. Starting pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude â€Å"Lefty† Williams, outfielder Oscar â€Å"Happy† Felsch and shortstop Charles â€Å"Swede† Risberg were all principally involved with Gandil. Although he hardly played in the series, utility infielder Fred McMillan got word of the fix and he threatened that he would go public unless e was in the payoff. â€Å"Sleepy† Bill Burns and â€Å"Shoeless† Joe Jackson, both played for the Los Angeles Angels after the fix of the series, were mentioned in the fix though their involvement has been disputed. I think he was not involved at all but got caught up in some nasty mob dealings. In the infamous World Seri es, â€Å"Shoeless† Joe Jackson had 12 hits (a World Series record) and a . 375 batting average to lead both teams in the individual statistics. He, also, committed no errors and threw out a base runner at home plate. â€Å"Ultimately, eight Chicago players and various small-time gamblers were indicated in the candal. At a 1921 criminal trial, a strong case was presented to establish that some â€Å"Black Sox† players-as they became known- had in fact thrown games, but all the defendants were found not guilty when prosecutors failed to prove that they had violated any criminal statutes in doing so. †(Morrow pg 1) I, also, found out that there is significant evidence that owner of the Chicago White Sox, Charles Comisky, may have known about the fix and tried to cover it up in order to avoid a scandal. No formal charges have ever been brought up against him or any other officials. In the ook â€Å"Shoeless The Life and Times of Joe Jackson,† there were seve ral letters written back and forth between Jackson and Comisky. Joe Jackson was asking for the loser’s share of the 1919 World Series which amounted to $3,154. 27 per man. Comisky had asked Jackson to return to Chicago to receive the payment but Jackson had prior obligations in Savannah, Ga. These letters continued for several months but to no avail. Jackson, also, wanted a new contract worth $10,000 per year. Comisky was only willing to pay him $7,000 per year but had already signed Eddie Collins and Buck Weaver to ontracts that was well above his asking price. Mr. Jackson had started his own business in Ga. which was a Billiard business. He explained, in his letters, that the contract that Comisky had offered was not up to par with the other great players of his era. He explained in one of those letters to Comisky that after taxes and having to live in the city where he played, there would not be enough money to keep the Billiard business on its feet. In the letter, Jackson explains that he has played for less money than any other player of his caliber. He, also, writes that if he cannot pay his asking price that Comisky needs to trade or sell him to another team that would pay him his asking price. Comisky shopped his name around to other organizations and teams but none of them wanted to sign him. In the last letters that they wrote to each other, Comisky explained that he did not receive any other offer from any other team to sign him. Jackson went on to write him back explaining that he would play for anything less than $10,000 per year but he, also, explained that he had heard that Comisky had given a raise of $2,300 to â€Å"Happy† Flesch who had only hit . 192 in the World Series. Finally, Comisky took matters into his own hands and sent Harry Grabiner to Savannah to obtain Jackson’s signature for the new contract. Mr. Grabiner informed Jackson that his new contract with the team would be increased by $2,000 per year and he was pleased with that contract. â€Å"This is where the stories diverge. Grabiner later insisted that Jackson knew that the ten day clause was included in the contract and that Jackson signed it in the house in Katie’s (Jackson’s wife) presence. Jackson claimed that his wife was not home at the time and that he signed it on the hood of the car only after Grabiner ssured him that the ten-day clause was not included. That evening, Harry Grabiner, headed back to Chicago with Jackson’s signed contract. The ten day clause appeared in Article 10 on the third of the contracts four pages. †(Fleitz pg 205) In summary Ray was building this field for these 8 players who were banned for life to come play and finish out their c areers with nothing hanging over their heads. This field, on Ray’s land, would be famous and all the townspeople could come and watch some of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game. Works Cited Fleitz, David L. Shoeless The Life and Times of Joe Jackson. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Co. Inc. 2001 Morrow, David. Black Sox Scandal. In Campbell, Ballard C. , PH. D. , gen. ed. 2008 Pickering, James H. Fiction 100. Pearson Education. Inc. 2012 Shoeless Joe Jackson and his Tragedy Jason Ebeling English Composition 2 Professor Moeller Nov. 15 2012 How to cite Shoeless Joe Jackson and His Tragedy, Essay examples

Bartleby And Civil Disobedience Essay Example For Students

Bartleby And Civil Disobedience Essay The extremely simplified definition of civil disobedience given by Websters Dictionary is nonviolent opposition to a law through refusal to comply with it, on grounds of conscience.; Thoreau in Civil Disobedience; and Martin Luther King in Letter from Birmingham Jail; both argue that laws thought of as unjust in ones mind should not be adhered to. In Herman Melvilles Bartleby,; a man named Bartleby is thought of by many to be practicing civil disobedience. His actions are nonviolent, and he refuses to comply with anything his boss says. But his behavior has nothing to do with morals. Bartleby is merely a lonely guy who does not wish to work and has nothing to do with civil disobedience. Thoreau says that if injustice is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say break the law; (Jacobus 134). He is personally giving permission for an individual to ignore anything he or she finds morally unacceptable. However, in Bartleby,; Bartlebys boss places no unjust laws and assigns no unjust work. He simply asks Bartleby to do easy tasks such as, when those papers are all copied, I will compare them with you;, or, just step around the Post Office, wont you? And see if there is anything for me; (Melville 116). The boss, who is also the narrator, never requests Bartleby to perform any difficult chores. Martin Luther King, Jr.s interpretation of an unjust law is, a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself; (Jacobus 159). The injustice described here by King also does not match the characterization of Bartlebys boss. Bartleby needs no civil disobedience since nothing could be considered unjust in the bosss management. Even if an unjust act were placed against Bartleby, he would not have had any cares about the injustice. He was a man who needed a place to live and chose to be a law-copyist. He has no desire to do any work and no desire to interact with other humans. Anytime an order was given, the same response would reply from Bartlebys mouth: I would prefer not to (Melville). Bartleby did not weigh the issues of morality and immorality in his assignments. He just does not want to deal with others. When asked to look over some work with Turkey and Nipping, he refuses. His boss offers him a home, and he refuses this as well. The ending footnote to Bartleby states that Bartlebys previous profession was a subordinate clerk in the Dead Letters Office in Washington. The dead letters he handled had no association to any living person. Bartleby was accustomed to working at a place where dealing with man is unnecessary. As Thoreau says, Dead letters! Does it not sound like dead men? (Melville 140). Bartleby has no connection with civil disobedience. King and Thoreaus ideas of what civil disobedience is do not match up with the actions of Bartleby. Bartleby was not trying to make a statement against unjust laws by not abiding by them. He was just a loner. All his refusals to do what was ordered stemmed from his need to be separated from humanity. Bartleby only wanted to live by himself with nothing but his own thoughts to deal with. .