A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers is a 2009 non-fiction book written by Lawrence G. McDonald and Patrick Robinson which chronicles the events surrounding the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in the context of the financial crisis of 2007–2010 and the subprime mortgage crisis.

The book contains an account of how McDonald, after attending the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, selling pork chops, and self-teaching himself the material required to pass the General Securities Representative Exam, went on to develop the website ConvertBond.com, which was later purchased by Morgan Stanley.

[2] The book characterizes Richard Fuld as being out of touch, smug, and a ruthless CEO with a short temper and a penchant for rage.

"[4] McDonald believes that the United States government should have saved Lehman Brothers, and that Dick Fuld falsely believed that the United States government would save the company after having a meeting with Henry Paulson in the spring of 2008, which led him to engage in unnecessarily risky behavior and reject an offer of $18 per share from the Korea Development Bank as late as August 2008.

A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers.