Almost exactly one year ago – on September 15, 2008 – Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, a collapse that many think tipped the world into the gravest financial crisis since 1929. Could the situation have been handled better?

Join the discussion and read moore on Pozen’s post, the first of his series on the financial system appearing every Monday in Harvard Business Voices: Conversation Starter »

As the dust settles on the recent frenzy of private equity deals (including transactions topping $20 billion), what lessons can companies glean? Directors and executives of public companies may now be slightly less fearful of imminent takeover, yet the pressure remains: They face shareholders who wonder why they aren’t getting private-equity-level returns. Rather than dismiss the value private equity has created as manipulated or aberrant, public company leaders should recognize the disciplined …

download a preview