What's Your Problem? The Big Short Companion from Against the Rules: How the Financial Crisis Broke Wall Street
Nov 25, 2025
Matt Levine, a finance columnist and former Goldman Sachs banker, joins Michael Lewis to reflect on the 2008 financial crisis. Levine shares his firsthand experience during Lehman’s collapse and discusses how regulations shifted risk away from banks to hedge funds. They dive into the rise of Bitcoin as a reaction to the crisis and draw parallels between crypto collapses and the dynamics of 2008. Levine emphasizes that short-term funding is a core crisis cause, while speculating on where the next financial shock might originate.
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Lehman Shock In Napa
- Matt Levine was on vacation in Napa when Lehman filed and felt like the world had ended.
- He was working at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker and immediately worried about job security.
Six Months Without Deals
- Matt spent six to nine months with almost no deals on his convertible bond desk during 2008–2009.
- He sat at his desk panicking and trying to get deals to happen while markets were frozen.
Prestige Followed The Risk
- The crisis shifted risk-taking from big investment banks to hedge funds and alternative asset managers.
- These firms gained prestige because they could absorb long-term risk that banks no longer would.
