Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Documentary: Inside Job



Charles Ferguson’s film – Inside Job – won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2011. It narrates the conflicts of interest between the finance industry, politicians, academics and regulators, which eventually led to the trillion-dollar collapse of 2008. Narrated by Matt Damon. From: http://www.theotherschoolofeconomics.org/?p=2499 - which screens the film on-line.

This documentary exposes the facts behind the 2008 global economic disaster. It was triggered by derivatives, primarily based on sub-prime mortgages in the US.  But the roots go back to the Regan deregulation of financial services. What is shocking is that many of the investment banks were betting against their own products and deliberately lying to their own customers. Several lawsuits are still pending.

It is fascinating viewing, but deeply disturbing as many of the key personalities are still in play in various companies and governments and regulatory bodies today.

For a write up see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(film)