CRISIS MANAGEMENT

"Had Lehman been handed a get-out-of-jail card, demands for similar treatment from other beleaguered businesses would have poured on to Paulson's desk. There are plenty of them. General Motors and Ford have made pre-emptive strikes. Remarkable, isn't it, how those who champion the survival of the fittest are quickly converted into supporters of lame ducks when they become one. Banks that deprecated state intervention while sloshing about in easy money are calling for the creation of government agencies to "facilitate the consolidation of the financial sector". (Daily Telegraph, 16 September) RD