WASHINGTON AP – State and local governments from Florida to California believed their public money was safe in top-rated accounts at Lehman Brothers. What could be safer than putting cash in a venerable investment bank that helped finance America’s railroads
When the 158-year-old Lehman went belly-up last September and the government decided against a bailout, public officials in at least 20 states watched no less than $1.7 billion set aside for hospitals, fire houses, roads and schools evaporate from their books.
