SummaryInside Job is the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces th...
SummaryInside Job is the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces th...
Many documentaries are good at drawing attention to an outrage and stirring up our feelings. Ferguson's film certainly does this, but his exposition of complex information is also masterly. Indignation is often the most self-deluding of emotions; this movie has the rare gifts of lucid passion
FIRST: I think everyone should see this.
SECOND: I did notice 1 error, but it depends on the framework of time - that it 2x'd the national debt (now: ~31 T; WAS ~10 T in 2000, ~13T 2007 reached 26T in 2019 (film is from 2010.)
However: up until the 1980s, the national debt was around 3 T from '47-81 bumped around 3-4T (mostly 3).
THIRD: recommend "Age of Easy Money" from PBS Frontline (8/22) to see how things have played out since due to the Great Recession, wrt to monetary policy, national debt, etc.
So WHAT happened in the 1980s? Banking deregulation.
There are 2 basic schools of economics - those who are free market fundamentalists ("FMF") who think regulation is unnecessary. In fact, FMFist Stiglitz created an edited version of "Wealth of Nations" (presumably the FMF's "Bible") removing most of the comments regarding the necessity for regulation. (Oreskes & Conway, see below)
The takeover by economics, economists since the 1950s, and then the takeover by the FMFs deserves a history in itself (The 1st Nobel Prizes were in 1901 - the 1st Nobel Prize for Economics? 1969.)
As the film points out, regulation after the 1929 stock market crash kept US relatively safe from financial crises for 30-40 years.
For an incisive view of how free market fundamentalists have spread their version of economics, see Oreskes & Conway's "The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us To Loathe Government And Love The Free Market." Just read the introduction (download the Kindle sample from Amazon.)
Those reviewers who recommend Sowell (an FMF) or decry govt intervention, really need to review the part about Iceland, described as the most pure experiment in market deregulation. Or read the intro to "The Big Myth."
Allowing the banks to fail as another reviewer suggested is an (unproven!) attempt at a cure, for which regulation is the preventive. The problem was the reverbrating impact of the bank failures worldwide.
The last 30 minutes does a good job of showing the HUGE conflicts of interest between profs of economics who then go on to advise govt, take govt jobs, and so on -- all while having been HUGELY financially advantaged by the financial industry.
Not to mention the attempt of the G7 nations to reign in conflicts of interest between govt advisors & regulators and industry. All but the US enacted such regulation (as the film mentions.)
It occurs to me the econ guys, regarding conflicts of interest, seem to be the template for Clarence Thomas' excuses for getting multiple financial advantages from Harlan Crowe. Since he apparently started getting gifts in 1996-7, hard to know which came first, though.
We have plenty of proof in the degree of huge economic pain inflicted on everyday humans by FMF; and proof regulation can work, has worked in the past.
I recommend watching at least twice: first to get the general gist; the 2nd to start diving into the details. I'd recommend 3x. Or at least watch the intro & read the #s.
Thanks for reading. This is available on YouTube (free), on HBO Max. Watch it, recommend it, and get involved to change it.
As he proved in his Iraq-centered "No End in Sight," policy wonk turned documentarian Charles Ferguson has no peer when it comes to tracking the course of a preventable catastrophe.
There's not much sense that the system can be voted out-not least because Barack Obama, shown campaigning on the crisis and elected in part to change the game, recruited his economic advisers from those who enabled the disaster.
A true-life story about American national corruption and the thieves are still doing business so freely in American society. It raises such disappointment and anger for knowing such cruelties could still be existed legally in the society. In the end, the poor took it all, not the money- but the painful consequences that the rich had created and ignorantly left behind.
It is good. Very nice to watch, like a glossy magazine, with Matt Damon coddling us through the tricky stuff, with the help of sexy graphics.
But really all it is a **** you. I don't want to hear about all the people who wouldn't talk to you. Fine tell me one or two, but the constant "... wouldn't talk to us" doesn't prove much of a point. This is just another documentary that makes you think very hard while you watch it, but like any other movie you walk out with no need to do something. After The Cove winning the Academy Award last year I thought they had sorted their **** out. But no, this is just a movie.
a well made movie but seriously haven't we heard this all before and done nothing about it? wall street and the top one percent of the wealthy have rigged the system to screw the the rest of us. oh, and washington's in on it. depressing.
An interesting film, and great plot; however, it was under-researched and logically flawed. Nothing more than an abecedarian bashing of the financial world from those who have never taken a class on Economics nor Finance. See it for the great fallacies which are conjured up--or rather the inherent stupidity of those who would be moved by such a production--but if you are looking for substance, I would recommend reading a book on economics and GSEs/interventionist policies to see how this financial crisis was set into motion. Instead of watching Matt Damon, pick up one of Thomas Sowell's books.
Interesting, but utterly boring and overgeneralizing. Nothing new is being revealed, by now, we all know what happened. In addition, there is no way to regulate the economy anyway, people will always find ways to make money.