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Documents obtained by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee undermine Mr. Fuld’s contention that Lehman was overwhelmed by forces outside its control. One internal Lehman analysis reveals that Lehman “saw warning signs” but “did not move early/fast enough” and lacked “discipline about capital allocation.” <ref>[http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1537 “Oversight Hearing on Causes and Effects of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy”], The Gavel. 10-06-2008. Retrieved 09-10-2009. </ref>
SW: minor edits
==Financial crisis and bank bailout==
During hearings on the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers and bailout of AIG before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld said a host of factors including a crisis of confidence and naked short selling attacks followed by false rumors contributed to both the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. House committee Chairman Henry Waxman said the committee received thousands of pages of internal documents from Lehman and these documents portray a company in which there was “no accountability for failure".<ref NAME="eighteen" /> Documents obtained by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee undermine Mr. Fuld’s contention that Lehman was overwhelmed by forces outside its control. One internal Lehman analysis reveals that Lehman “saw warning signs” but “did not move early/fast enough” and lacked “discipline about capital allocation.” <ref>[http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1537 “Oversight Hearing on Causes and Effects of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy”], The Gavel. 10-06-2008. Retrieved 09-10-2009. </ref>
===Contribution to the Crisis===
<blockquote>"It's unconscionable what they did – or more accurately what they didn't do. They didn't do their homework. People were talking about the failure of Lehman Brothers from the moment of the failure of Bear Stearns in March, or before, and they didn't do a thing. If they knew there was systemic risk, why didn't they do anything about it?"</blockquote>
- Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize-winning economist and professor at Columbia University<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/crash-of-a-titan-the-inside-story-of-the-fall-of-lehman-brothers-1782714.html “Crash of a titan: The inside story of the fall of Lehman Brothers”], The Independent. 09-07-2009. Retrieved 09-10-2009. </ref>
Housing prices peaked in May 2006. After experiencing a staggering 96 nominal percent price increase during the six years before then (72 percent in real dollars), prices started a slow decline. By September 2008, when Lehman Brother declared bankruptcy, prices had already dropped 22 percent from the peak. Prices fell another 12 percent in the six months after Lehman collapsed. <ref>[http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/what-weve-learned-ugly-truths-about-housing/#more-29781 “What We’ve Learned: Ugly Truths About Housing”], NY Times. 09-08-2009. Retrieved 09-10-2009. </ref>
