Moonlight Graham Posted May 12, 2012 Report Posted May 12, 2012 Wondering if anyone has seen the documentary "Inside Job" (2010)? It shows how the 2008 US financial crisis came about. It's well done, and includes interviews with politicians, CEO's, former US gov officials etc. The interviewer poses very tough questions to some of the players involved. A bunch of tense moments, and also ones where these players are clearly lying to save face and the interviewer calls them on it. One interesting thing is how it shows the big credit rating agencies (ie: S&P) being basically a joke when it comes to assessing the ratings of the big banks etc, making their ratings virtually meaningless. Trailer: Quote "All generalizations are false, including this one." - Mark Twain Partisanship is a disease of the intellect.
j44 Posted May 12, 2012 Report Posted May 12, 2012 Saw it in the theatre and I was disappointed there was so much slant. They even made Paulson look like he wasnt working his ass off to stave of a global collapse. Also keep in mind the interviewer/director can edit those interviews to make them look like whatever he wants. And keep in mind he is going into the offices of these people and calling them unethical and liars. I would expect anyone to react with and 'get the he'll out of my office.' It would be nice nice to see some balance in things now and then. Quote
August1991 Posted May 12, 2012 Report Posted May 12, 2012 (edited) IMV, this documentary missed a key point: many ordinary Americans bought houses because they thought the house would rise in value. This bubble was not an "Inside Job" - despite Matt Damon's voice. Ordinary Americans created this housing bubble. In short, bubbles happen. In America in particular. We Canadians are different. Maybe it's the temperature. Our financial regulations are certainly more lax, given the 12 jurisdictions and numerous loopholes. Heck, Canadian banks have no State-regulated reserve requirements. Canadian banks are free to do as they please. ---- So, why did this housing bubble happen? I have no simple answer except that, well, bubbles happen. Like in early 1930s Germany, many ordinary people foolishly/wrongly believe in the ONE THING. (|In the US, they believed that house prices would rise.) Edited May 12, 2012 by August1991 Quote
Bonam Posted May 12, 2012 Report Posted May 12, 2012 IMV, this documentary missed a key point: many ordinary Americans bought houses because they thought the house would rise in value. This bubble was not an "Inside Job" - despite Matt Damon's voice. Ordinary Americans created this housing bubble. In short, bubbles happen. In America in particular. We Canadians are different. We are different how? The only difference is our housing bubble hasn't burst yet. Canadian cities like Vancouver have the most absurdly overinflated housing prices ever. Sooner or later these prices will have to come back down to reality. So, why did this housing bubble happen? I have no simple answer except that, well, bubbles happen. Like in early 1930s Germany, many ordinary people foolishly/wrongly believe in the ONE THING. (|In the US, they believed that house prices would rise.) You really trying to compare the housing bubble meltdown to the rise of Nazism? Really? Quote
Topaz Posted May 12, 2012 Report Posted May 12, 2012 I think one should take this kind of information at 50-50 and with a open mind that all what they were saying COULD be true. Now a days, one can't TRUST anyone in power and we all know power, money and greed go hand in hand and I think corruption in the world is getting more and more. So I say, just have an open mind to the prossibilties that something could be true, even we find it hard to believe because that is how governments can scam its citizens. Quote
Moonlight Graham Posted May 12, 2012 Author Report Posted May 12, 2012 IMV, this documentary missed a key point: many ordinary Americans bought houses because they thought the house would rise in value. This bubble was not an "Inside Job" - despite Matt Damon's voice. Ordinary Americans created this housing bubble. In short, bubbles happen. In America in particular. You're right, it wasn't an "inside job", at least not entirely. You're right, the film did glance over the role of ordinary Americans involved in the bubble. It also didn't quite focus enough on the role of government and its deregulation of the market and of banks. I've concluded the housing crash was caused by 3 actors, and I think they're equally culpable, and the film should have focus on all 3: government (for its role in deregulation & fooling with interest rates, among other policies), wall street & (predatory lending, trading toxic assets, rabid casino speculation etc.), and ordinary Americans who took out mortgages they couldn't really afford or had too much hope in the market. Quote "All generalizations are false, including this one." - Mark Twain Partisanship is a disease of the intellect.
bleeding heart Posted May 12, 2012 Report Posted May 12, 2012 We are different how? The only difference is our housing bubble hasn't burst yet. Canadian cities like Vancouver have the most absurdly overinflated housing prices ever. Sooner or later these prices will have to come back down to reality. I agree, it's unbelievable. What I paid for my house wouldn't get me a tarpaper shack in Vancouver. You really trying to compare the housing bubble meltdown to the rise of Nazism? Really? August has an...interesting style. Quote “There is a limit to how much we can constantly say no to the political masters in Washington. All we had was Afghanistan to wave. On every other file we were offside. Eventually we came onside on Haiti, so we got another arrow in our quiver." --Bill Graham, Former Canadian Foreign Minister, 2007
j44 Posted May 12, 2012 Report Posted May 12, 2012 http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/the-lesson-of-jp-morgans-2-billion-loss-break-up-the-big-banks/257050/ Quote
Moonlight Graham Posted May 12, 2012 Author Report Posted May 12, 2012 http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/the-lesson-of-jp-morgans-2-billion-loss-break-up-the-big-banks/257050/ An interesting debate. Some corporations are indeed too big to fail (at least without horrible market & social consequences). Does that mean they should be broken up into smaller units? Who decides this and under what measures? What about the freedom of the market? Quote "All generalizations are false, including this one." - Mark Twain Partisanship is a disease of the intellect.
August1991 Posted May 16, 2012 Report Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) Why don't Quebecers allow a small group (of bankers)? I know that English-Canadians wonder how they differ from Americans but my answer has always been money. (The difference between English Canada - British America - and the US is obvious to me: money.) The monetary history of the two places (US & Canada) is so different. I'm surprised that no English Canadian (or even American) has noticed this obvious difference. Why has no one noticed this before? (Perhaps John Kenneth Galbraith did, but he was more concerned about partisan American politics.) I reckon that most English Canadian nationalists are Leftists confused about money. And Quebec French-speaking nationalists speak to an echo-chamber. Edited May 18, 2012 by August1991 Quote
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