Why the Economy Tanked in 2008
By Dalane
@Dalane (691)
United States
December 29, 2015 4:36pm CST
I went to see a movie about the true events that lead to the global economic melt-down in 2008 -- The Big Short. I heard that it was going to be one of the Oscar contenders this year. It had some big stars in it-- Christian Bale, Steve Carrel, Brad Pitt, and Ryan Gosling.
It's all about how the mortgage crisis started and how corrupt the banking and investment system is. The characters learned that the housing bubble was about to burst and they bet against the system (hence the title) to make massive profits, some with conflicting emotions about what they were doing.
Did I think it was as great a movie as the critics were saying? No. However, the story of the mortgage crisis and the ensuing economic collapse need to be told again and again.
What makes this film special is that the story is told in a way that ordinary people could understand. As they state in the movie, the people at the heart of this corruption count on the fact that what people don't understand they put out of their minds.
People need to be outraged that this happened. The big banks and perpetrators within the system completely got away with it. We, the people, paid for their crimes. Let's never forget that.
I'm glad that this movie brings these crimes back in the spotlight, but in my opinion, it does not go far enough. There are so many political reason that these crimes became possible with both parties playing a role. The movie does not touch on that side of the crisis.
Have you seen The Big Short? What did you think of it?
4 people like this
4 responses
@mawhite (242)
• United States
30 Dec 15
I haven't seen it yet, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I've seen a few others on the collapse, "Inside Job", "Too Big to Fail" and "Margin Call". I'm reading predictions of Oscar nominations for "The Big Short" too, so I am excited to see it.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Dec 15
I haven't but sounds like something even my husband might like. I like the idea that they explain it so the common man can understand it. Writing the title down so I won't forget to see it. Thanks.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
8 Jan 16
It is wrong to put the blame solely on the banking system.
When people are spending way above their income level, and they dare to buy houses without an income, that is a recipe for disaster.
if everyone saves up 20% of their income, and make a decent downpayment of 20% for their houses, the whole crisis will not happen.
@Dalane (691)
• United States
8 Jan 16
The banks should not have allowed those people to qualify for mortgages. Instead, many companies in the mortgage industry actually solicited people with marginal credit scores and poorly verified incomes to take out mortgages. They contacted them by telephone and mail and convinced the lenders to accept the applications. The banks would accept them because they knew all along that they were going to bundle these subprime loans with top quality loans, sell them to another bank and make a tidy profit. The banks buying the loan bundles were unaware of the risk they were taking because the rating agencies rated the loans bundles as "A" level. So it was a system-wide problem. Also, there used to be a depression era law that would have prevented crisis, but it was repealed by one of our presidents who was in office in the late 1990s. To be fair the other political side contributed as well.
