Not knowing the ramification of letting Lehman fall into bankruptcy, the Fed began purchasing commercial paper today (something Lehman did extensively). These short-term loans that businesses use to fund their daily operations were once heavily purchased by money market funds. However, a lot of those funds took a huge hit when Lehman bellied up. I wonder if this action by the Fed will end up costing more than stepping in and giving the same treatment to Lehman as it did others. I guess time will tell.
There is an excellent article here that shows just how detrimental the failure of Lehman Brothers was. Of coures hindsight is 20/20, but foresight is 20/10!