Inside Job [DVD] [2011]

I knew most of this detail already and was only surprised not to see friends being interviewed. Larry Summers who makes an appearance in The Social Network as President of Harvard was the influential mentor of Ed Balls, MP. The film was beautifully constructed. It was well-structured and provided modules of insight to comprehend what was really quite simple - but journalists and apologists pretend is "complex".

When you buy something you do not expect to have to unscrew the fascia plate to find if the insides are what the outside says they are. You do when you deal with financial products. Manufacturing synthetic government bonds for pension funds by using mortgages is great until you need increasing supply to soak up that liquidity slushing around from Chinese trade surpluses. So a whole group of new companies set up to seduce the unwary into houses on easy mortgages just to generate the bonds to trade - the poor suckers lose their homes and savings and dreams when the teaser-mortgages adjust to market interest rates, but the bond trader is in the money.

A few snake oil salesmen from Moody or Fitch to chant incantations over the offering and declare it AAA or golden enough for widows and orphans to insure their future, and a friendly insurance company evading US regulators in London builds a casino business around risk-insurance CDS. Soon the great Goldman Machine finds it can buy CDS insurance against any eventuality and make money by selling junk to suckers, dumping junk in the market, and turning to AIG for insurance cover. This great aircraft insurer doesn't need to make reserves for risk because it is all UNREGULATED. And, if it goes bust there are politicians on payroll to use taxpayer funds to bail out the mess.

The US Treasury was looted by a crowd of gangsters whose scale made Al Capone look like the street hood he was. This was systematic fraud and corruption which has destroyed the myth of Western democracy. Having accused Asians of Crony Capitalism in 1990s, we now see the US and European versions ourselves in full naked glory. It is so blatant, the Oligarchs have shown how they take the savings (tax subsidised) and pension funds of the labour force and use them in high-stakes games of roulette.

This film is a must-see, and should be watched twice...in silence to appreciate the full beauty of the scam.

I've seen this film twice now and can't recommend it highly enough. It covers much of the same ground as Whoops!, but with much greater focus on America in general; and the way that investment banks, the government, and academia are cosily interlocked in particular.

The opening six minutes - a potted history of Iceland's deregulation and subsequent near-collapse - should be required viewing for anyone arguing that the UK (or anywhere else) is "over-regulated", as some of our political leaders have been doing at the time of writing.

The film makes no attempt to present a balanced view (though I've yet to come across any counter-argument from any other source either). The interviews are either with people heavily supportive of the film's basic premise, who are just allowed to talk; or (heavily edited) sessions with some of the key supporters of the banks who get asked some very awkward questions and have to squirm whilst the camera keeps rolling. It's fun to watch their discomfiture and hard to feel any sympathy when you find out just how rich these people are, and remain. There are also highlights of some of the Congressional hearings that followed the 2008 crisis, one of which neatly sums up the (continuing) problem: that the banks are very sorry for what they have done and promise not to do it again - just the same kind of response you'd expect from a bank *robber* if they were caught.

The explanation of the cause(s) of the crisis - whilst helped a bit by some fancy graphics - is neither as lucid nor as entertaining as Whoops!, but the central argument of the film is very powerful and in places breathtaking. (When I saw this at the cinema there were gasps from the audience at several points). This is particularly true of the end when it is made clear that, despite the branding, things haven't changed (and aren't likely to) under the Obama administration.

Just seen Inside Job on Emirates flight to London. It was compelling viewing both on all aspects of global meltdown of 2008 covered succinctly as also o where the world in now. It is shocking to hear bankers admit they have been guilty of over-the-topgreed and need to be regulated. More shocking is revelation of how the study of Economics at major US academic centres like Harvard/ Berkeley / Columbia are being corrupted to meet the diktats of powerful banking industry. The nexus between politics / financial industry/ and academics in de-regulating the not very ethical world of money has been laid bare
There were strong warnings sounded all through the last decade by honest professionals
that were over-ridden and un-heeded - especially one like Raghuram Rajan in his paper of 2005 asking - Is the
financial industry making the world riskier? The likes of Alan Greenspan and Larry Summars need to have their
heads examined as do University Professors who stare blank at conflicts of interest in taking money for writing
things in support of actions that have damaged institutions and the world-wide economy. No one can not help us when
we repeat the same mistakes and head into more risks and crisis
This is a must-see for all serious central bankers and finance ministry officials of countries
Christie Cherian