So was letting Lehman go to the wall the greatest economic policy error of the modern age, or would we have ended up in much the same place regardless of what Mr Paulson had done? Many bankers argue the former, but then they would, wouldn't they? The same applies to central bankers, all of whom failed to see the recession coming until it was too late. For them, it is convenient to think that, but for the stupidity of Mr Paulson, everything would have been just fine.