Three Movies You Should Watch to Understand the Economic Collapse of 2008

Posted by $ Olduglycarl 6 years, 2 months ago to Movies
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Most of us know a lot about 2008 but maybe there is a bit more to know: "Some commentators argue that the American economy has not recovered from the collapse of 2008. The lingering recession and slow growth certainly played a role in the election of Donald Trump. These films are worth watching to be reminded of what happened, why it happened, and why it may not be over."

The article houses 3 short promotional clips of each film, I admit to being intrigued.
The Big Short even..." stops at various points to actually instruct the viewer in the problem at hand."

I found all three of these movies on Netflix.

Have any of you seen one of these movies?...tell us what you think.
SOURCE URL: https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/three-movies-you-should-watch-understand-economic-collapse-2008


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  • Posted by $ WilliamShipley 6 years, 2 months ago
    I really liked the way "The Big Short" managed to cover rather complex issues. It did leave me with the warning: "Never make a bet with someone where they pay you if they go bankrupt"!

    I loved "margin call". It's a tight drama (screenplay nominated for Academy Award) well worth watching. Not sure how much it tells about the underlying causes. It's good on the mind-set. The writer/director J.C Chandor (it's his first film) is the son of a Merrill Lynch investment banker and grew up in the environment. If you don't mind a "spoiler" -- and really we do know there was a melt-down, here is a critical meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhy7J...

    I think the slow growth recovery was Obama trying to recreate the FDR depression by using the crisis to expand the government and pile on regulations.
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  • Posted by mshupe 6 years, 2 months ago
    I've not seen the movies, and I've heard great things about The Big Short, except that it is merely one narrative that doesn't reveal much about government interference in the residential mortgage market, or banking in general. The reality is that banking is the most heavily regulated industry in the world, and therefore the one most prone to crisis.
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    • Posted by TheOldMan 6 years, 2 months ago
      I was about to post the same comment. The role of the CRA, FNMA & FMCC, various politicians (Dodd, Frank, etc...), in pushing various agendas by way of home "ownership". I write "ownership" because in reality, 100+% LTV loans do not convey any ownership at all. FNMA & FMCC defined the quotas they wanted for the mortgages that they would purchase and the banks/mortgage brokers provided what they demanded. By the way, Jamie Gorelick, originally of 9/11 debacle fame, made tens of millions during her tenure at FNMA, as did James Johnson, neither of whom were noted for their financial or accounting backgrounds. They were however high ranking Democratic Party members. FNMA had a huge ($10B?) accounting scandal during their tenures; the accounting fraud pushed up Johnson's salary rather dramatically.
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    • Posted by $ 6 years, 2 months ago
      Yes, I doubt that any of these films revealed the billybob directive to give people loans without income verification.
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      • Posted by BCRinFremont 6 years, 2 months ago
        Don’t forget Barney Frank’s threat to banks if they didn’t play along. This crisis was just another failure of socialism. Damn!
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        • Posted by $ 6 years, 2 months ago
          Who could forget, it is barney frank that causes me to not put too much money in the bank, stash cash and stay away from direct deposits. Barney allows them to use your deposits and balances to pay off their debt with little to no recourse for you.

          I thought Trump was going to stop that from happening...did I miss it?
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  • Posted by $ WilliamShipley 6 years, 2 months ago
    The role of the Federal Reserve in the mortgage meltdown is rarely commented upon. In June 2003 the rate dropped to 1%. Since it factored into mortgage rates that made for cheap mortgages.

    Since when you are buying a house, the majority of your mortgage payment, at least in the first few years, is almost all interest. The amount of a loan you can afford is almost entirely driven by the interest rate.

    With cheap loans people could pay ever higher prices for homes -- and they did. It was almost impossibly to make a bad purchase -- 105% LTV? Just wait a few months and you have a profit. If you can't pay the mortgage you can sell. Someone will pay more than you did.

    But the Fed started raising rates and by mid 2006 it got to 5.25. Suddenly people who couldn't afford to pay for the homes they had bought started being unable to find a buyer. The monthly payments had risen too high.

    The Fed started dropping the rates, but it was too late.
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  • Posted by freedomforall 6 years, 2 months ago
    First read The Creature From Jekyll Island to put the entire issue in context. Then watch the movies with a more educated ability to discern the frauds.

    Thanks for posting, OUC. I did see The Big Short and I plan to watch the other two ASAP.
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    • Posted by freedomforall 6 years, 2 months ago
      Watched both Hell or High Water and Margin Call. For me the "highlight" of each was having a Star Trek crew member as the protagonist (Spock in Margin, and Kirk in Hell.)
      Margin Call seemed more like a cover up from Hollywood trying to make the traders who caused the crash appear less than guilty.
      While I could feel some empathy for one of the brothers' situation in Hell or High Water, it just felt like a sloppily done production and the dialogue was very boring.
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  • Posted by GaryL 6 years, 2 months ago
    I just watched Hell or high water and thought it was very well done and told a story all too true and real.
    Movies like these give new meaning to the term "Money is the root of all evil". I will have to view the other 2 but I am sure there are and will be many more along these same lines. The Bernie Madoff story should be one we all pay very close attention to. Along those same lines I have often declared that Donald Trump made his decision to run for the Presidency simply because he played in the swamp with all the fat cat rip off artists and got burned a number of times while there. This is Pay Back and you can pretty much be assured many who screwed him are now paying for their deceit.
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    • Posted by freedomforall 6 years, 2 months ago
      Problem with Hell or High Water is that Hollywood (or the author) took the low road and made them criminals and murderers of innocent people. I have no use for murderers of innocents. The truth is that the protagonist could easily have raised the money with the knowledge there was oil on his land, and none of the killing was needed. His "lawyer" should have advised him of the alternatives. It was a stupid script.
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    • Posted by $ 6 years, 2 months ago
      Being forced to do something you know is immoral and unethical is a tough decision to make and that "Force" being corrupt, doesn't make it any easier.

      I take the same perspective on Trump, not affected by the Stockholm syndrome, he did what he had to the best way he could until he could no longer take it any more. He survived and prospered but witnessed all the immoral perversions that permeate the system and now he has the means to fight back and take out the system.
      The question becomes: 1, will he retain his reignited moral roots and stand tall as an example to us while playing the game against the system and those that run it? 2, will it last, will we be able to keep it or will we fall back to sleep only to be over powered again.
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      • Posted by GaryL 6 years, 2 months ago
        OH YES! I feel your pain Carl and feel the exact same as you do. The question is more, Will the swamp beat DJT into submission? He has a thousand arrows pointing directly at his heart from every direction imaginable and it is only his supporters standing between them and the target. We can only hope the crowds he has at rally's will be multiplied many thousands of times on this upcoming election day and again in subsequent federal election cycles. His party is anything but loyal.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 6 years, 2 months ago
    It was an interesting time. Just yesterday I was in my home office and noticed one of my books in the book case. "Crash Proof" by Peter Schiff..."how to profit in the coming economic collapse". That book was written before the SHTF. And, it's an interesting, and educational read.

    I enjoyed "The Big Short". I got to work in the industry for several years and the regulatory framework that the Feds set up not only drastically changed what you see in that movie, but it crushed the little firms (thanks Obama).
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 6 years, 2 months ago
    Having read everything here, me dino will have Netflix send The Big Short and Margin Call as long as there are subtitles due to my Tinnitus, the same affliction Baby Driver had in an unrelated pretty good action movie.
    As for what's also a good action movie, I've already seen Hell Or High Water (for it came with subtitles) via Netflix.
    These brothers had really come to hate banks. Ironic is how they used a bank to turn loot into a trust fund for their kids to escape the cycle of poverty.
    A lawman, who had the brothers pegged but lacked evidence for an arrest, told them, "Oh, the things we do for our kids."
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    • Posted by $ 6 years, 2 months ago
      So far, every film netflix has available, in my experience has subtitles in english.
      I use it all the time because I can't watch with a normal volume level at work or at home unless I am alone. My wife only enjoys "Stupid" and so called, reality TV....she doesn't want to learn anything more about anything.
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      • Posted by $ allosaur 6 years, 2 months ago
        Yesterday in Netflix I clicked on this and saw "No" beside subtitles.
        https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Dev...
        A lot of cheap horror movies say "No" beside subtitles. Me dino was curious about The Queen Of The Desert with Nicole Kidman in it but it says "No."
        https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Queen-o...
        As for The Big Short and Margin Call, I was surprised to find both in my queue stacked with over 400 flicks--al with subtitles but sometimes a claim to subtitles turns out to be a lie.
        Liars get returned with one star which means "I hate it."
        I kicked both of your recommended flicks to the top. I'll see them next weekend.
        My queue method may be excessive but it really paid off when a F5 tornado missed me by a quarter of a mile. My cable and internet was out for a month, though the power was back on in 3 days.
        So how did I watch TV? Had my own collection of some favorite DVDs and Netflix kept sending me movies as fast as I'd watch and return them.
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  • Posted by $ 6 years, 2 months ago
    I myself didn't see this coming, wasn't looking... I was doing very well and leading a happy productive, creative life. I wasn't the only one in my upscale neighborhood that had to fight and scratch to keep the homes we built.
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