Armies and police quickly geared up to combat the expected riots and unrest, but at first, none materialized. But neither did any significant changes in how the system was run. At the time, everyone assumed that, with the very defining institutions of capitalism (Lehman Brothers, Citibank, General Motors) crumbling, and all claims to superior wisdom revealed to be false, we would at least restart a broader conversation about the nature of debt and credit institutions. And not just a conversation.
