There’s a line in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” when Shia LeBeouf’s character asks a Wall Street money guy, ‘What’s your number?' (The number when you know you have enough and you’re ready to pack it in and retire.) The Wall Street guy responds, ‘More.’ That’s exactly what’s clearly depicted in “Inside Job,” Charles Ferguson’s carefully detailed and infuriating documentary about the causes and consequences of the financial crisis of 2008. Basically, here’s what happened: these crooks in suits took everyone’s money and gambled it anyway they wanted, knowing that no matter what happened, they’d get rich and they wouldn’t have to give it back. So the economy crashes and jobs and homes are lost. So what? They’re still rich.
The title suggests a heist movie, but it’s also a story about a crime without punishment and a betrayal of public trust. And it’s not surprising that many of the highest-profile players declined to be interviewed. Both political parties are called to task; “Inside Job” is not simply attacking Bush and his advisors although they are hardly ignored. The scaling back of government oversight and the weakening of checks on speculative banking activity began under Reagan and continued during the Clinton administration. And with each administration, the market in derivatives expanded and the alarms were ignored. As early as 2005 the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund presented a paper warning of a ‘catastrophic meltdown,’ which was mocked by Larry Summers, then Secretary of the Treasury. Meanwhile, some investment banks, Goldman Sachs in particular, were betting against positions they were urging their customers to buy. One risky bet was stacked on top of another with bad consumer loans bundled into securities and then insured via credit-default swaps. It’s not surprising that the whole house of cards collapsed, resulting in a loss of jobs, homes, and pensions. And, apparently, the corruption extends into the halls of academia. Banks will pay economics professors at the most respected universities six-figure fees to write positive ‘analyses’ of their financial practices. After watching “Inside Job” and understanding how our current crisis came about, you won’t just be angry, you’ll know why you’re angry. 10/22/10
1 comment:
My philosophy refuses to allow me to believe in shackling business or disbelief in the "free enterprise" system but there is a time for the lawmakers to create safeguards in our economy. If left unchecked the financial giants will do whatever they want and will abuse and confuse us in order to make obscene amounts of profits. Everyone should see this documntary iy they want to understanmd what needs to be done.
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