Christine Lagarde: lessons learned from Lehman

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, has written an article on the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath, calling the events leading up to the crisis ‘a sobering lesson in groupthink’. Ms Lagarde said banking culture, ethos and values still need reform, and called for more female leadership in finance, saying greater diversity sharpens thinking, reducing the potential for groupthink.

Ms Lagarde argued that diversity also leads to more prudence, ‘with less of the reckless decision-making that provoked the crisis’. IMF research has found that a higher share of women on the boards of banks and financial supervision agencies is associated with greater stabi