"It felt like the end of the world" - former Treasurer Wayne Swan on Lehman Brothers collapse and fears of Great Depression rerun

This time ten years ago, the world faced a possible rerun of the Great Depression of the 1930s when the Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed, triggering the global financial crisis.

Global markets froze, banks were too afraid to lend to each other and central banks slashed interest rates heralding trillions of dollars of economic stimulus.

Australia avoided much of the fallout after Kevin Rudd's labor government guaranteed bank deposits and provided massive economic stimulus.

Wayne Swan was Treasurer at the time and he spoke of his fears ten years ago with the ABC's senior business correspondent Peter Ryan.