HOW CLOSE WERE WE WHEN LEHMAN WENT BYE-BYE?

Real close, according to the German finance minister:

London Suicide Connects Lehman Lesson Missed by Hong Kong Woman
By Mark Pittman and Bob Ivry

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Munich-based Hypo Real Estate Holding AG received 102 billion euros ($143 billion) in debt guarantees and credit lines from the German government after its Depfa unit was stuck without short-term funding following Lehman’s bankruptcy. Like Lehman, Hypo funded long-term real estate assets with short-term loans such as commercial paper.

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck defended the bailout of the lender because the global financial system was just “millimeters from the abyss.”