Lehman Brothers filed for the largest bankruptcy in United States history on September 15, 2008, listing $639 billion in assets and $619 billion in debt — a single event that froze global credit markets and triggered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The 158-year-old firm had bet massively on the US housing market, loading its balance sheet with toxic mortgage-backed securities and amplifying its exposure through extreme leverage even as warning signs mounted. The decision by the US government not to bail out Lehman — unlike Bear Stearns and AIG — remains one of the most debated economic policy choices of the modern era.
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