雙語財經新聞 第6期:雷曼破產十訓(1)

Lehman Brothers had two distinct histories: one of a migrant1 family and its descendants who created an American success story, the other of the contemporary Wall Street types who threw it all away. Behind this sad tale lie what we might call the 10 lessons of Lehman.

雷曼兄弟的歷史由兩個截然不同的部分組成：其中一部分是一個移民家庭及 其後代譜寫了一段美國式的成功故事，另一部分是當代華爾街人士把他們的成功 徹底葬送。我們或許可以把這個悲劇背後的教訓稱爲“雷曼十訓”。

1. Always have an exit route. The original brothers Lehman came to the U.S. from Bavaria in the 1840s, peddling household goods on the byways of the south before setting up as cotton brokers in Montgomery, Alabama. As the American civil war approached, they widened their options and began moving north to New York, where they established their bank. In September 2008 the final head of Lehman, Dick Fuld, had no such alternatives as he waited for destruction to close in.

第一，要始終留有退路。最初的雷曼兄弟是19世紀40年代從德國巴伐利亞移居 美國的。他們先是在美國南部走街串巷兜售日用品,後來在阿拉巴馬州的蒙哥馬利 當起了棉花經紀人，建立起自己的事業。美國內戰臨近時，他們拓寬了自己的選擇, 開始北上紐約，在那裏建立了自己的銀行。而2008年9月，雷曼最後一位掌門人迪 克?富爾德在等待毀滅來臨之時,卻沒有這樣的退路。

2. Be on the inside. Lehman Brothers had the ear of presidents from Teddy Roosevelt to Richard Nixon but lost such links when bond traders in the mould of Mr Fuld took over in the 1980s. These were merchants of fast transactions rather than long-built relationships. Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, has nurtured relations with government sine? the 1930s. When Hank Paulson, the Bush administration Treasury secretary and former head of Goldman, distributed bail-out funds after the crash of 2008, his old company won a generous share. Lehman Brothers went to the wall.

第二 ’政府裏要有人。從泰迪?羅斯福到理査德?尼克松’雷曼兄弟跟歷任美國 總統都說得上話，但自從20世紀80年代,富爾德之流的債券交易員接掌雷曼後，此 類聯絡就中斷了。這些商人注重短線交易，而不關心長期建立起來的關係。相比之 下，自20世紀30年代以來，高盛一直呵護着與政府的關係。2008年危機爆發後，當小 布什政府的財政部長、高盛前掌門人漢克?保爾森分發紓困資金時，他的老東家分 得了很大一份，而雷曼兄弟卻陷人倒閉。

3. Herbert Lehman would never have let it happen. Industrialist, banker and partner at Lehman Brothers, Herbert Lehman was the governor of New York who with President Franklin D. Roosevelt built the New Deal of the 1930s. He believed bank failures turned the crash of 1929 into the Great Depression. Rather than letting his family bank or others go under, he would have saved and rigorously regulated them.

第三,赫伯特?雷曼絕不會讓這一悲劇發生a作爲實業家、銀行家和雷曼兄弟合 夥人，赫伯特?雷曼曾任紐約州州長,與總統富蘭克林*羅斯福一起打造了 20世紀30 年代的新政。他相信，銀行倒閉將1929年的危機轉變成了大蕭條。他不會讓自己家 族的銀行或其他銀行倒閉，而會拯救它們’嚴格監管它們。

4. Invest long term. Lehman Brothers financed much of 20th-century America: Pan American Airways, Philip Morris, Hertz Corporation. It sponsored the rise of American retail through Sears and Roebuck, Woolworths and Macy’s of New York. In Hollywood, it was the money behind films such as Gone with the Wind. All that disappeared years later when it fell into the hands of short-termists intent on immediate profit.

第四，要做長線投資3雷曼兄弟爲20世紀的美國提供了大量資金:泛美航空、菲 利普莫里斯公司、赫茲公司0通過西爾斯羅巴克、伍爾沃斯和紐約的梅西百貨等例 子可以看出，雷曼兄弟幫助了美國零售業的崛起。在好萊塢，《亂世佳人》等許多影 片的背後都有雷曼的資金。但多年後，當雷曼兄弟落人急功近利、眼光短淺之輩手 中後,所有這些都消失了。

5. “Grabbing and greed can go on for just so long, but the breaking point is bound to come sometime.” Herbert Lehman again, by now senator2 from New York and speaking of the perils of giant business shortly before he retired in 1957. Today’s banking bonus culture might have left him lost for words.

第五，“掠奪和貪婪儘管橫行,但崩盤的時刻終有一天會到來。”我們又說到了 赫伯特?雷曼’這是時任紐約州參議員的他在1957年退休前不久談及巨型企業的危險時說的話。今天的銀行業獎金文化或許會讓他不知該說什麼好。