Quote Originally Posted by Dreadnaught View Post
Lehman looked good until it didn't. Everyone got hosed by Lehman, that's why it precipitated the financial crisis. You're calling it a gamble, when it didn't look like that at all before.
That's not true, you know.

That said, unless there was a Swiss bank run I'm not aware of, no bank depositors who just deposited cash have lost money in the developed world. Anyone who bought a specific investment program should know that there is some element of risk. That's as true today as it was two years ago and 50 years ago.
Deposits in the US are (now) FDIC guaranteed up to $250,000 per account. Why don't you talk to Americans who had US deposits before the limit was bumped up, and their bank went under during the crisis? There was quite a bit of tension, legal and otherwise, just a couple of years ago. Particularly in California.