This continues to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Michael Lewis is also my all time favorite author. Eclectic. Moneyball. The Big Short. Boomerang...an amazing historian.
2
Great movie. Also, like Michael Lewis, I'm from New Orleans and worked for an investment house where I played Liars' Poker, after getting a Liberal Arts degree, Missed out on the fellowship to Berkeley thing, though. Probably should have accepted that invitation to Squires. Great to see a New Orleanean and New Orleans involved, in any case. In Taos, I told a guy on a ski lift I was from N.O. And he laughed. Oh, Katrina, I thought. There's more to N.O. than death and destruction. We're getting there.
5
Excellent film, but I must admit a lot of the financial terms eluded me. I'm just not conversant in business talk, especially in such a fast pace film. I saw the film yesterday, read the review today and will watch it again to see if I can be educated further.
2
I’m a heterosexual woman but I would love to take Business 101 from Margot Robbie naked in her bathtub of bubbles, drinking champagne for an ENTIRE semester.
Gosling, Bale, Carell, Pitt, Leo ALL dynamite actors are superb in their characters. I had watched a 60 minutes episode explaining tranche, CDO, credit default swaps etc and I studied them. My husband and I were big Michael Lewis fans—Brad Pitt starred in Money Ball.
My ex-military spouse got his PhD in Business/Education so I worked hard to understand the systems and terms.
So...Learn the terms, then go back and watch the movie a few times.
A.O. Scott describes the feelings at the end of anger, nausea, emptiness. My life was totally upended by this horrible recession. My spouse completed suicide after he had put all our savings into these swaps.
We must follow finances...but these Wall Street jerks either don’t know or care whose lives they’re destroying to get that $47 million bonus check. And our POTUS based his entire presidency on the DJIA!
Damn good movie. I sat through it twice so I could pick up the pieces I dropped the first time. It's a real eye-opener that shows you just some of the corruption and incompetence in our country. It's hard to say no to big money and it's just one big ongoing conspiracy between business and the government. Although millions of people paid a heavy price to fill the pockets of just a few, we dodged a bullet, but we most likely won't be so lucky next time.
11
Dodged a bullet?
Millions of good Americans have NEVER recovered after losing their homes and jobs!
My ex-military spouse killed himself with a gun as we had lost everything! Coming back from the Vietnam War, my spouse saved to buy American’s dream! Our own home!
Houses started at $1 million for a 500 sq ft thin walled house w zero property line in Honolulu. Owning $2-3 million homes was common for a working class couple.
Now, tearing down Native Hawaiian homes to build condo towers is the thing. 225 sq ft studios start at $3.6 mill and go up to $40 mill for a 750 sq ft two bedroom/two bath apt.
Second homes for billionaires while our kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiians) live in rusted out trucks.
People didn’t dodge a bullet...literally!
6
Why did it take so long for this movie to be released and available as a DVD? Why have we been voting for months prior to this epiphany?
I just saw it for the first time and say, "Aha."
What is scary is that it can happen again and again.
I just saw it for the first time and say, "Aha."
What is scary is that it can happen again and again.
7
It is happening again and again as we speak.
6
They should have placed pics of the actors next to the names in the closing "whatever happened to ....?"
In fact, it's been done for many years, at least since National Lampoon's Animal House (1978).
In fact, it's been done for many years, at least since National Lampoon's Animal House (1978).
2
This is an excellent review that does this wonderful movie justice. My whole family (including my 16-yr-old son) and I saw the film twice, since there were bits we didn't get the first time. Now we are reading Lewis' superb book. It is thanks to the movie that our family could finally begin to understand the crisis and the appalling stupidity and incompetence of its major players.
10
I can’t read the books, see the movies, or read articles about this horrendous boondoggle. Why? My former military officer husband “bet” all of our savings (For me 35 years of 80 hrs/wk jobs) on high risk stocks.
We lost it all; we also both lost our jobs along with millions of other people despite the fact that we both had doctorates. After a year of hundreds of job applications and absolutely no interviews--Hey we were over 55!-and his spiral into depression, he completed suicide.
And now MORE people are making lotsa money off our suffering. “99 Houses” was close I guess to showing what it was like on our side..but I don’t see the humor in capitalist excess. Which of these financiers was hurt? Who was arrested? Who went to prison?
What do I have left? I volunteer as an MD in free clinics and would visit my spouse’s grave but it’s in the National Cemetery of the Pacific and I can’t afford to fly “home” to Hawai’i anymore.
And so it goes...
We lost it all; we also both lost our jobs along with millions of other people despite the fact that we both had doctorates. After a year of hundreds of job applications and absolutely no interviews--Hey we were over 55!-and his spiral into depression, he completed suicide.
And now MORE people are making lotsa money off our suffering. “99 Houses” was close I guess to showing what it was like on our side..but I don’t see the humor in capitalist excess. Which of these financiers was hurt? Who was arrested? Who went to prison?
What do I have left? I volunteer as an MD in free clinics and would visit my spouse’s grave but it’s in the National Cemetery of the Pacific and I can’t afford to fly “home” to Hawai’i anymore.
And so it goes...
33
So sorry for your losses. Best wishes to you.
5
How horrible. No words for what you've suffered. Hope things improve for you - somehow!
2
I am sorry that you had to experience such enormous hardship and I praise you for sharing your story. This film while it was generally rated well by the critics, I found to be too "cleaver" and tried too hard to entertain rather than inform. The end credits show that none of the guilty parties were ever held accountable and left with their bonuses, etc while the rest of us will continue to pick up the broken pieces. In Newton MA, which is rated as one of the most expensive housing markets in the county, as a senior I have downsized my living standards from what once promised to be a comfortable retirement. The housing market has again become inflated, but only those earning in the top 10% income bracket can get a mortgage. The world economy and potential terrorism have made the economy very vulnerable.
I don't feel very secure these days and the election is only fueling my apprehension. Best wishes to you and all that are in this struggle to survive.
I don't feel very secure these days and the election is only fueling my apprehension. Best wishes to you and all that are in this struggle to survive.
3
I just saw this last night. Late to the party. It's the best film this year. Best Director is a lock. McKay will become a biggie.
The music is exceptional in this film. It's perfectly spliced into the scene. I think of the Phantom of the Opera over Vegas edits, the speed metal rebellion of Burry, the "Milkshake brings all the boys to the yard" in the stripper scene when Baum is interviewing her for info, and the ending credits, Zepplin's "When the Levee Breaks".
The movie brought me to confused tears--a mix of rage at the corruption and pride in the Truth seekers.
I also appreciated the quotes chosen to help accentuate theme. Twain, ect...
I will see this again.
Great acting, top to bottom. The slick real estate brokers steal a great, if depressing scene--"they are not confessing, they're bragging."
And the synthetic CDO sushi dinner was surreal, awesome film making and acting and editing.
McCay is a new Scorsese. But this was eons better than Wolf of Wall Street. McKay alludes to Scorsese's Goodfellas style.
The music is exceptional in this film. It's perfectly spliced into the scene. I think of the Phantom of the Opera over Vegas edits, the speed metal rebellion of Burry, the "Milkshake brings all the boys to the yard" in the stripper scene when Baum is interviewing her for info, and the ending credits, Zepplin's "When the Levee Breaks".
The movie brought me to confused tears--a mix of rage at the corruption and pride in the Truth seekers.
I also appreciated the quotes chosen to help accentuate theme. Twain, ect...
I will see this again.
Great acting, top to bottom. The slick real estate brokers steal a great, if depressing scene--"they are not confessing, they're bragging."
And the synthetic CDO sushi dinner was surreal, awesome film making and acting and editing.
McCay is a new Scorsese. But this was eons better than Wolf of Wall Street. McKay alludes to Scorsese's Goodfellas style.
15
Laughed out loud when '...Levee...' came on. Yes, great use of music!
4
Not only is it a great film, it has great timing--out at the start of a presidential race. Why is Bernie Sanders doing so well with young people? Perhaps they remember WHY they've had a rocky start to their work lives. We'd all do well to ponder what happened and make sure it won't again.
7
Margin Call and Inside Job were both superb films. I hope this one lives up to Scott's review!
4
Here, A. O. Scott has written one of the finest film reviews I've ever read. THAT is how to do it! Thank you.
17
Agreed. After watching this exhilarating, entertaining, ultimately depressing movie, I needed A.O. Scott's excellent analysis to help me process it. Well done!
14
Great movie. Character development. Humor. Lessons taught in a way any teacher would envy. Acting magnificent. If this had to happen (and of course it didn't) then thank god for Michael Lewis, McKay, and the crew of this movie
Hope everyone involved gets the Oscars. And every American sees it. And then realizes our country's still in the hands of the greedy rich--and holds his or her nose real tight and votes Democratic in the next election.
Hope everyone involved gets the Oscars. And every American sees it. And then realizes our country's still in the hands of the greedy rich--and holds his or her nose real tight and votes Democratic in the next election.
12
If you think things have changed, you are dreaming. The new name for subprime mortgages is "non-prime" and these mortgages are being packaged and sold as securities now. They are rated by the same rating agencies and many are designated as "high quality investment grade". What do you suppose happens next?
18
The writer of Anchorman had some of his signature silliness in this film which I thought was a real mess and way too cutesy for a serious subject. There was the obligatory scene on the toilet which a respectable actor would not do. There was an almost impossible to follow sequence of explanations for a very dense subject, nude women for the male watchers. little for female. It was a good ole boy romp of adolescent proportions. BOO!
6
Seriously? That's what you got out of it? You focus entirely on the style, with not a mention of it's substance.
If everyone has a reality TV mindset and judges historical events through the lens of "The Apprentice" maybe we don't deserve to be a world leader anymore.
If everyone has a reality TV mindset and judges historical events through the lens of "The Apprentice" maybe we don't deserve to be a world leader anymore.
15
What an amazing movie! My favorite character: Melissa Leo as the sorry ratings agency executive. Many thanks to Michael Lewis and Adam McKay for their work.
6
I never thought I'd laugh as much over Wall Street skulduggery as I did at "The Big Short," and then, as A.O. Scott points out in this perceptive review, it began to hurt. I can't think of a serious American comedy as good as this one since "Dr. Strangelove." Kubrick's masterpiece got its share of important Oscar nominations, but won none of them. It will be interesting to see what the Academy does with the equally brilliant "The Big Short."
11
This was an entertaining look at a deadly serious crime perpetrated by Wall St. The institutionalized fraud was massive, and went on for years.
What it calls into question is the quaint American notion of the rule of law. Not a single Wall St. perp did a lick of time behind bars. Even though they knew exactly what they were doing. How do we know they knew? They bought credit default swaps against the mortgage backed securities the sold as soon as the sale was completed. Nothing could make this any clearer.
I have followed this heinous crime for some time, and so understood exactly what the film was trying to explain. I wasn't so sure that other movie goers could.
Nevertheless the film's ensemble was terrific, and I thoroughly recommend this film.
The fact that no single investment bank executive did any time for this institutionalized fraud happened on Obama's watch. It is a lasting stain on his presidency.
What it calls into question is the quaint American notion of the rule of law. Not a single Wall St. perp did a lick of time behind bars. Even though they knew exactly what they were doing. How do we know they knew? They bought credit default swaps against the mortgage backed securities the sold as soon as the sale was completed. Nothing could make this any clearer.
I have followed this heinous crime for some time, and so understood exactly what the film was trying to explain. I wasn't so sure that other movie goers could.
Nevertheless the film's ensemble was terrific, and I thoroughly recommend this film.
The fact that no single investment bank executive did any time for this institutionalized fraud happened on Obama's watch. It is a lasting stain on his presidency.
23
Clinton let Greenspan talk him into massive deregulation, and Bush turned a blind eye to everything. Don't go after Obama alone. They are all stained.
40
The one thing that The Big Short left out was the nefarious process of securitizing the crappy loans. The loans were, by and large, originated by unregulated mortgage companies, such as New Century. They would create the loans and then package them together and sell them to a securitizer (a commecial or investment bank), which would then sell them to a trust managed by the securitizer, which would then sell them to insurance companies or other investors. The mortgage company knew of the risk but sold all but a small piece of the loans to the securitizer, who, for a fee, passed the loans on to the trust. Everyone was paid a fee for passing the hot potato on to the next player. So, the lender and the securitizer got paid whether the loans went bad or not. Not only did this all occur under the noses of the rating agencies, auditors, banks, bank directors, the Fed, the SEC, etc., but the whole damned thing had happened in the 1990s, except on a smaller scale. Billions were lost, not trillions. No one paid any attention. AND IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN!!!
26
The process of securitizing the loans and the effects of how this was done were made perfectly clear in the film - in fact, they were the whole point.
8
I was just listening to Diane Rehm's podcast discussing "Best Films of 2015". A.O.Scott was amongst the film critics involved in that discussion. After seeing this film several times, I was in SHOCK that "The Big Short" was not even mentioned on that show. After reading A.O. Scott's rave review of the film I am even more confused. How can Mr. Scott praise a film at this level and then not mention it as a contender for this year's Oscars......
16
This movie/ book would have us believe that the financial crises was caused by Wall Street. This is partially the case. The movie/ book blames mortgage back securities. But mortgages have to be made in order to produce mortgage back securities. The major banks and Fannie Mae who bought their loans may have been pressured to make them and not by Wall Street. The movie never addresses this. There's more to the cause of the financial crises than Wall Street. However I did enjoy the movie.
2
Exactly who do you think 'pressured' those poor gullible banks? And, please don't start with any drivel about how the government made them do it.
10
"Ellen," if that really is your name, I wonder who you work(ed) for.
8
Ellen is referring to the American Enterprise Institute's alternative explanation for the housing bubble which blamed the government's promotion of home ownership:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Crisis_Inquiry_Commission
In this version of events lenders were so cowed by Washington that they were forced to invent liar loans to stay in business.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Crisis_Inquiry_Commission
In this version of events lenders were so cowed by Washington that they were forced to invent liar loans to stay in business.
10
This is one of only a handful of films that I want to see again, and soon. The plot, characterizations, and dialog are so captivating that I looked past the craft that brought the story to the screen. A few comments here have disparaged the style and editing. Maybe they are right, but I hope to learn whether these views illustrate the quip about art that appears midway through the film.
4
Wanted to love this movie but felt beaten over the head by it. Script is a mess and highly redundant. Bale and Pitt are wonderful. Should have been cut by 20 minutes. Product placement and many so-called comic effects are obvious and insulting. A screenwriter who feels comfortable winding up by flashing screen after screen (white on black, no less) for the exhausted audience to read two hours into the film should go back to film school.
4
On the contrary, those last few statements gave the film closure and a punch line. Without them you've got just another artsy "well what happened next?" movie with no ending.
7
Great review of a really terrific movie. Amazing balance is maintained throughout, profane & profound; exhilarating & depressing, laughter & outrage, all in measure. There are really so few must see movies, but this is surely one.
15
Mr. Scott nails what I thought about the movie here. It is a brainy as "Ex Machina" (my other "10" movie this year). As I left the theater I kept flashing on Alex Gibney's excellent doc, "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room", because my blood was boiling just as high leaving that film as it was leaving this film.
10
I saw this today at the early matinee. An older crowd and pretty intelligent (because they laughed in the same places I did.) I learned a lot. The blackjack table and people making bets on the outcome of other bets and on and on was very instructive. Making bets, easy money, the high from a winning streak all fit perfectly with Wall Street. But any casino denizen will tell you it doesn't last.
It's true you get caught up wanting these characters to succeed, but they were betting that our economy would fail. Being right meant a lot of suffering. But not for those most responsible, only one guy did prison time.
This film is an entertaining explanation of events I really didn't understand at the time. Shining a light on these events won't change anything. But maybe next time people will be able to put the pieces together earlier. It can't hurt.
It's true you get caught up wanting these characters to succeed, but they were betting that our economy would fail. Being right meant a lot of suffering. But not for those most responsible, only one guy did prison time.
This film is an entertaining explanation of events I really didn't understand at the time. Shining a light on these events won't change anything. But maybe next time people will be able to put the pieces together earlier. It can't hurt.
12
Just saw the movie, entertaining, smart and some clever education for me about things like CDO. But then its sad, sad that the elderly in this country can't live off their life savings with interest rates at 0%. Sad at the families still living in trailers that used to have homes. .Sad that the middle class is shrinking and people go hungry again in this country.
Go see it ,take your kids, damn.............
Go see it ,take your kids, damn.............
26
Weird to see a bunch of super-rich actors playing this. Would've been much better to just see perp-walks of Angelo Mozillo and his cohorts.
5
Watch TV, surf the Net and don't go to movies if you don't want to see actors.
3
It's a sign of the times that there is hysteria and frenzy around the release of "Star Wars" and hardly a peep about the release of "The Big Short". To paraphrase, people get the culture and economy they deserve.
57
Go see! (Excellent Scott review, btw.)
As with another of this year’s top movies, Spotlight, filmmakers here have gathered a wonderful cast for an ensemble-style piece. But where Spotlight was dead serious, The Big Short is a satirical dramedy about the foolishness of so many and the insight of so few.
Following 3 teams of different types of investors—the Wall Street group, the Boulder, CO independents, and the West Coast unconventional hedge fund genius—we watch as each utilizes a different method to assess the burgeoning failings of the securitization of credit from unwarranted mortgages on which each team is determined to profit by “selling short.” Director McKay, heretofore a maker of silly Will Terrell movies, displays surprisingly extensive chops as a narrative meister and social critic, utilizing such techniques as “breaking the fourth wall” with “guest stars” who explain directly to the camera what the mechanisms of the CDOs and CDSs are. Audience will emerge both delighted and more knowledgeable.
Following a story structure similar to a heist film, we see the cast of characters gather, then plan their heist(s), and finally the resultant financial haul of “pulling it off.” Can anyone fail to appreciate both the narrative and the satirical excellence, particularly as compared to the bloat and purported satire of “The Wolf of Wall Street?” This new movie actually critiques financially suspect (and immoral) practices concisely, comically, and entertainingly.
As with another of this year’s top movies, Spotlight, filmmakers here have gathered a wonderful cast for an ensemble-style piece. But where Spotlight was dead serious, The Big Short is a satirical dramedy about the foolishness of so many and the insight of so few.
Following 3 teams of different types of investors—the Wall Street group, the Boulder, CO independents, and the West Coast unconventional hedge fund genius—we watch as each utilizes a different method to assess the burgeoning failings of the securitization of credit from unwarranted mortgages on which each team is determined to profit by “selling short.” Director McKay, heretofore a maker of silly Will Terrell movies, displays surprisingly extensive chops as a narrative meister and social critic, utilizing such techniques as “breaking the fourth wall” with “guest stars” who explain directly to the camera what the mechanisms of the CDOs and CDSs are. Audience will emerge both delighted and more knowledgeable.
Following a story structure similar to a heist film, we see the cast of characters gather, then plan their heist(s), and finally the resultant financial haul of “pulling it off.” Can anyone fail to appreciate both the narrative and the satirical excellence, particularly as compared to the bloat and purported satire of “The Wolf of Wall Street?” This new movie actually critiques financially suspect (and immoral) practices concisely, comically, and entertainingly.
14
Satirical? Was I at the same movie?
I was on the periphery of the capital markets at the time. While the actors playing the Big Bankers in the movie may seem to be overplaying their characters, they were not. Those huge egos, the people who did not understand the loans they were selling, the aggressive (and NY rude) bankers were -- and doubtless till are -- real. My co-workers and I were in the cheap seats but even we knew these guys were largely full of ___. We were aware that something was wrong, and we knew that there were crummy loans in the bond offerings. We had no idea of what could or would or should be done about it. We knew enough to know there was something ODD going on, but we believed the Wall Streeters--they must know what they were doing.
The Big Short is a documentary in the style of Freakonomics--a splashy, funny, clever way of teaching us something we really, really need to know. Perhaps the movie overstates the element of surprise in discovering the housing bubble (but its a movie, dude!) but what it does not shy away from is the failure of the everyone involved to notice, prosecute and end fraud, manipulation of consumers and an entire lack of ethics in an industry that bills itself -- correctly!?-- as Master of the Universe.
The only products that got placed were logos of the Big Banks, and they were the targets of this intelligent, clever, witty documentary.
I was on the periphery of the capital markets at the time. While the actors playing the Big Bankers in the movie may seem to be overplaying their characters, they were not. Those huge egos, the people who did not understand the loans they were selling, the aggressive (and NY rude) bankers were -- and doubtless till are -- real. My co-workers and I were in the cheap seats but even we knew these guys were largely full of ___. We were aware that something was wrong, and we knew that there were crummy loans in the bond offerings. We had no idea of what could or would or should be done about it. We knew enough to know there was something ODD going on, but we believed the Wall Streeters--they must know what they were doing.
The Big Short is a documentary in the style of Freakonomics--a splashy, funny, clever way of teaching us something we really, really need to know. Perhaps the movie overstates the element of surprise in discovering the housing bubble (but its a movie, dude!) but what it does not shy away from is the failure of the everyone involved to notice, prosecute and end fraud, manipulation of consumers and an entire lack of ethics in an industry that bills itself -- correctly!?-- as Master of the Universe.
The only products that got placed were logos of the Big Banks, and they were the targets of this intelligent, clever, witty documentary.
16
A friend who went to look up my comment told me about your comment, Bookish Anderson, so I went to read it myself. Normally, it's not a good idea to respond to responses, but your mystification as to why I, or anyone, might call this movie "satirical" warrants a dictionary definition of the word: "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues." If the Big Short isn't satirical, what is? While I realize that genres are up for discussion, movies with actors in them are not considered to be documentaries, the term of art you have used, unless it is a "biopic" about the actor's lives, or involves the actors in their real lives doing something of interest to the documentarian (e.g. Brad Pitt helping to build houses in New Orleans).
4
Looking forward to seeing this!
Can anyone tell me why the Communist Manifesto is quoted in the italicized section at the end?
Can anyone tell me why the Communist Manifesto is quoted in the italicized section at the end?
2
Whoever writes the blurb at the end tries to explain the movie rating (R, in this case) with a creative flair; they may have gotten overly esoteric with this one.
4
Looking forward to the release in South Africa.
3
How could anyone NOT have seen this coming? I remember watching one of those "flip it" shows in around 2006 where a couple of 20-somethings were going to buy an empty garage in Malibu for $800,000 and flip it in six weeks for a million bucks. I think they succeeded. Even I could see that there was something seriously wrong with that picture.
8
You should have shorted it.
5
Perfect opportunity at this most critical time…..
WE ARE BACK AT THE PRECIPICE!
To “all” involved in “The Big Short” -- you have a singular opportunity with the publicity surrounding this important film.
Please use it to make a difference!
Opening the public’s eyes regarding the rigged casino of credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations would be beneficial…
But please…please… resist the efforts of some to manipulate the public into thinking that anything that you show in your film was curbed or has abated in any way….all of it has gotten worse!
Please help the public to understand the absolutely critical importance of restoring Glass-Steagall and stopping the TPP --- which has shockingly nefarious backdoor aspects in terms of financial regulation!
Again...Thank You...to “All” those involved in this film for your efforts.
WE ARE BACK AT THE PRECIPICE!
To “all” involved in “The Big Short” -- you have a singular opportunity with the publicity surrounding this important film.
Please use it to make a difference!
Opening the public’s eyes regarding the rigged casino of credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations would be beneficial…
But please…please… resist the efforts of some to manipulate the public into thinking that anything that you show in your film was curbed or has abated in any way….all of it has gotten worse!
Please help the public to understand the absolutely critical importance of restoring Glass-Steagall and stopping the TPP --- which has shockingly nefarious backdoor aspects in terms of financial regulation!
Again...Thank You...to “All” those involved in this film for your efforts.
24
I think a lot of people saw this coming, but did not act on it the way these investors did. It was all too unreal that so many loans were being made to people who could not afford to pay them back. The only people who were really clueless were the regulators and the banks.
9
I remember wondering what was wrong with this. People--young people--who lived next door to me in a regularly priced home were suddenly talking about taking their life savings (which couldn't have been much, they were like 30 at the time) and buy a $750,000 home. I was wondering how my husband and I made a decent salary but I didn't think we could afford anything like that. I saw a number of people buying homes in our neighborhood for more than double what we had paid back in 2000.
8
The banks weren't clueless. They were making fortunes on the housing market and complex financial instruments tied to the market. They consciously and deliberately ignored all the signs of impending doom. And, for them, it worked. Senior management received obscene bonuses, kept their jobs, and weren't prosecuted or in anyway penalized. Some even went to Washington where they could work to further protect the 1%'s interests at the expense of the 99.
20
As someone who did see this coming - and who made good, but not incredible money off it - I'd like to share two moments of my own journey. I was in a Doctor's waiting room next to a young stockbroker reading Greenspan's biography. We got to talking and I told him Greenspan was a fool and the market was a bubble. He responded with utter disbelief and we went back and forth until I said. "Listen my friend, the pendulum only does one thing. This market is going to implode of it's own weight. When it happens and you and your fellow MBA's counting your losses, remember, you heard it first from a guy whose only diploma came from a high school."
The second encounter was on a subway. Hearing an earnest, young couple talking about buying their first house in NJ. I told them not to, that house prices were going to collapse and I hoped, I said, they'd wait a year. then they would have their choice of homes at stunningly low prices. I have thought of them many times, hoping they took a stranger's advice.
The second encounter was on a subway. Hearing an earnest, young couple talking about buying their first house in NJ. I told them not to, that house prices were going to collapse and I hoped, I said, they'd wait a year. then they would have their choice of homes at stunningly low prices. I have thought of them many times, hoping they took a stranger's advice.
27
This movie is on my must see list. My hope is that it is not too late to prosecute the bankers and fraudsters who took this country to the brink of financial ruin and walked away from the damage they created. Millions of people had their lives forever changed because of the financial crisis. It would serve justice well for them to receive compensation from this disaster.
4
That's not the way things work in the US. The wealthy and powerful are generally immune from prosecution.
14
This looks good. Bernie Sanders should use this as a campaign commercial. The timing of this--timed perfectly to remind us what we should really be worried about--is incredible.
30
The crash was easy to predict - for 25 years housing prices were going up and up while wages were stagnant. Something had to give.
Doesn't everyone know about conservation of energy?
Doesn't everyone know about conservation of energy?
6
"In fact, almost none of us did. Certainly not the government officials and banking executives who remain at liberty and in positions of power to this day."
I'm so tired of the persistent myth that no one saw this coming except a few insiders. MANY people saw this coming.
I'm so tired of the persistent myth that no one saw this coming except a few insiders. MANY people saw this coming.
79
You know who saw it coming? Goldman-Sachs saw it coming, and they weren't alone.
6
I certainly saw it coming when I came home from Italy, where I was living, for a short visit with family. As I heard family members talk about the worth of their homes, I was the doom and gloom person who questioned how it was possible that someone making $75,000 a year could afford a $500,000+ home. It didn't take a degree in economics to see where this was heading. I also knew, unlike Timothy Geithner, that if you earn money outside the U.S. you still owe taxes on it, and he became Treasury Secretary under Obama.
13
Yea, you can't create wealth out of nothing - housing prices going upupupup while wages going down. Conservation of energy always wins.
3
Does "The Big Short" do any flashbacks like to November 4, 1999, when Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota argued passionately against the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act which was enacted in 1933 to prevent the kind of economic disaster that its repeal precipitated?
Dorgan predicted almost to the day what "The Big Short" dramatizes but he had only 7 other senators including Barbara Boxer and Russ Feingold on his side, 92 on the repeal side,
The story of the repeal of Glass-Steagall is at least as dramatic or even more so than what "The Big Short" describes but having a flashback maybe a bad idea because then the viewing public would have a better idea of who to blame. And how to avoid this nightmare in the future.
Dorgan predicted almost to the day what "The Big Short" dramatizes but he had only 7 other senators including Barbara Boxer and Russ Feingold on his side, 92 on the repeal side,
The story of the repeal of Glass-Steagall is at least as dramatic or even more so than what "The Big Short" describes but having a flashback maybe a bad idea because then the viewing public would have a better idea of who to blame. And how to avoid this nightmare in the future.
104
I enjoyed the movie and would highly recommend it. That said, one of my complaints about it is that the words "Glass-Steagall" do not appear. I may be wrong, but I thought its repeal--perhaps more than any other single thing--is what led to the unethical, predatory and greedy behavior of the banks.
10
I'm really looking forward to this movie. If we can't put the big bankers in jail, at least we can ridicule them on the big screen.
25
Fairly soon after this collapse the BIG players, the CEO's, these ""Captains of Cash" were summoned to Washington by the President HIMSELF.... perfect opportunity to chastise, shame, demand an explanation, and discuss where to go after such a fiasco.....NOTHING happened, not even a smack on the wrist. .... a wasted opportunity for Obama to show who he is.........or maybe he did?!
10
"Strongly defined characters." That's the true glory of this picture. The filmmakers use the the proven dramatic template of a band of eccentric, broken outsiders who are drawn together by a common purpose: triumph over a massive, fraudulent system. There's the one-eyed, socially inept loner; the workaholic haunted by family suicide; the graying, Obi Wan of high finance who quit the corrupt biz in high dudgeon but has returned for one last big score. Or has he?
A lot of the film is process, but it's watchable process because CDOs and default swaps are inherently interesting, because the stakes are huge, and because the characters are each discovering what the titans of Goldman, Deutsche, Merrill, etc., cannot or will not acknowledge--that the house of cards is about to collapse. Director/writer McKay and the ensemble play the scenes superbly as a slow-motion Greek tragedy train wreck. The pacing of scenes perfectly balances character and subject matter. Carrell's deadpan is the comic gold of one Las Vegas scene. But all the actors are tip top.
Completely unexplained is a motif of deliberately sloppy visual trippiness, used as chapter breaks.
The film's grand charge of fraud is simplistic and doesn't add up. Why would Bear and others willfully act against their own interests? After all, they lost everything. The ones who shorted their bonds hit the jackpot. Important factors like the Fed's role in the bubble are omitted. Still, this is The feel good hit of the crash. A.
A lot of the film is process, but it's watchable process because CDOs and default swaps are inherently interesting, because the stakes are huge, and because the characters are each discovering what the titans of Goldman, Deutsche, Merrill, etc., cannot or will not acknowledge--that the house of cards is about to collapse. Director/writer McKay and the ensemble play the scenes superbly as a slow-motion Greek tragedy train wreck. The pacing of scenes perfectly balances character and subject matter. Carrell's deadpan is the comic gold of one Las Vegas scene. But all the actors are tip top.
Completely unexplained is a motif of deliberately sloppy visual trippiness, used as chapter breaks.
The film's grand charge of fraud is simplistic and doesn't add up. Why would Bear and others willfully act against their own interests? After all, they lost everything. The ones who shorted their bonds hit the jackpot. Important factors like the Fed's role in the bubble are omitted. Still, this is The feel good hit of the crash. A.
7
As we are all still living with the fiasco created more than 3 decades ago and still not repaired to this day, I can truthfully say I am very interested what this movie will show me that I don't know already.
A colleague and I use to marvel that how was it before the financial collapse, individuals with little money could get mortgages and once the closing took place, in the same week, the mortgagee would turn around and sell it to another mortgagee. Sometimes in a matter of weeks, the mortgage would get sold 2-3x and the homeowner never knew who they were to pay their mortgage to or who was paying their escrow bill.
Once the collapse came, we said, ah-hah, all the banks knew what they were doing.
BTW, for those who following wall street, they are starting to do the same thing again.
A colleague and I use to marvel that how was it before the financial collapse, individuals with little money could get mortgages and once the closing took place, in the same week, the mortgagee would turn around and sell it to another mortgagee. Sometimes in a matter of weeks, the mortgage would get sold 2-3x and the homeowner never knew who they were to pay their mortgage to or who was paying their escrow bill.
Once the collapse came, we said, ah-hah, all the banks knew what they were doing.
BTW, for those who following wall street, they are starting to do the same thing again.
39
This movie is a total crock. Up until the Community Reinvestment Act was pass in 1977 under Bill Clinton, banks refused to loan money to people who couldn't afford to pay it back. The Act, designed to force banks to loan money to the "under served", guaranteed them against potential losses. This beget negatively amortized loans which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (quasi governmental agencies) to package them as A paper to see to the international investment community. Had this Act not been passed, had banks not been threatened with charges of racism and greed, the collapse never would have happened.
2
Sure, that's the way Rush tells it on the radio.
8
Janitors and fast food workers buying houses beyond their means are not to blame, and the CRA was not the root cause. Blame rightly rests on those "investors" who bought numerous residential properties, held them for a few weeks, then "flipped" them for huge profits as the housing bubble continued to expand. When the bubble burst (seeing as housing prices could not be expected to rise forever and certainly not extraordinarily far beyond what it actually cost to have a house built), these were the people left with their "investments" under water. Their logical recourse was to walk away from their numerous unaffordable mortgages. The domino effect--amplified by the over-rated but highly risky bonds (which transferred all loan risk from lending banks to unsuspecting investors), tanked the rest of the economy. Greed was indeed pervasive in all aspects of the collapse, and regulators can be faulted primarily in that they cannot pay enough to hire the people capable of recognizing and understanding some of the most Byzantine investment instruments ever conceived.
12
Bill Clinton? In 1977? Wow, you have a lot of credibility....
9
I don't think that it is true to say that no one saw this coming. I distinctly remember one day working out at the gym and watching a news documentary - I think it was PBS, though I could be wrong -that looked in detail at a mortgage broker selling mortgages to families who could not afford it. That program pointed out what would eventually happen. I'm pretty sure this was at least two years before the actual crash. In addition, in the academic realm of political economy, numerous scholars have been studying and predicting the problems related to unrestrained financial movements for decades. Susan Strange and her work on "casino capitalism" came out in the 1990s. The political economists, alas, do not seem to have been read by the regular economists, who worked for the banks or remained relatively isolated in their own academic silos and helped Wall St. indulge its greed and stupidity until what had been predicted by many came to pass. So, it is not that many people did not see this coming; it is just that they were not the right people.
Let me make a prediction right here: what happened in 2008 is going to happen again, and relatively soon. The various measures needed to rein in and discipline the US economy were never done or have been undermined by Wall St. money in Congress. The reforms needed to prevent another crisis have not happened. When it happens, let's not say the next crisis was not expected.
Let me make a prediction right here: what happened in 2008 is going to happen again, and relatively soon. The various measures needed to rein in and discipline the US economy were never done or have been undermined by Wall St. money in Congress. The reforms needed to prevent another crisis have not happened. When it happens, let's not say the next crisis was not expected.
72
I agree that the measures that we need in place to prevent another 08 are certainly not there. However I disagree that another crisis will happen soon. In the least, while not terribly effective, is Dodd Frank and the establishment of the CFPB. There is currently no bubble akin to the housing bubble.
That being said, our political leaders have proven to be ineffective in terms of working to implement legislation to help safeguard us from another 08. They are bought and paid for by the very lackeys who caused the crash and subsequent recession. Our oligarchy only gets stronger
That being said, our political leaders have proven to be ineffective in terms of working to implement legislation to help safeguard us from another 08. They are bought and paid for by the very lackeys who caused the crash and subsequent recession. Our oligarchy only gets stronger
5
"No punishment for the crime." That's the key phrase. Such rating companies as S & P got off, after 6 years of litigation, with a light fine, having successfully defended themselves by claiming that everybody knew that their ratings were "puffery" and should not have been taken seriously.
45
can't wait to see this. I want to take my high school econ students to see it. Field trip first time in years.
13
"...and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind."
Except too many will instead intoxicate themselves with the hallucinogenic ideology packaged for them by outrage industry. When faced with the real conditions of life, they'll seek a scapegoat, who, to properly perform its function, must be socially powerless.
Except too many will instead intoxicate themselves with the hallucinogenic ideology packaged for them by outrage industry. When faced with the real conditions of life, they'll seek a scapegoat, who, to properly perform its function, must be socially powerless.
1
Great! Can't wait to get my blood boiling again!
5
Great review Mr. Scott!
We had thought of skipping this movie, now we definitely see it!
We had thought of skipping this movie, now we definitely see it!
8
How about a movie depicting the slimy then-Treasury Secretary, former Goldman CEO Hank Paulson, exacerbating the crisis by saving his buddies at Goldman with a trillion-dollar bailout of taxpayer money? And he did so complicit with the then-Fed Chairman, Tim Geitner? Then in the end, they both do the perp walk, are convicted of fraud and racketeering in Federal Court, and get thrown in a Club Fed prison for the rest of their lives?
The screenwriter would only need to make up the last part of the above (the part about prison). The rest is actually true.
The screenwriter would only need to make up the last part of the above (the part about prison). The rest is actually true.
23
Tim Geithner (note the correct spelling) was not, and has never been, the Fed Chair.
18
Too bad you got the Fed Chairman's name wrong -- It was Alan Greenspan, and spelled Geithner's name wrong.
3
Sorry again - Fed chair was Bernanke at that time - Greenspan was the would-be "eminence grise" that nobody hung around to listen to in the scene that took place the day Bear Stearns collapsed.
1
Nice to hear that they have done justice in the film to what I found a very compelling read. At many points in the book I wasn't sure whether to laugh, scream or puke. If the movie recreates this feeling it will be exceptional cinema.
17
Finally, a movie that makes economics entertaining!
11
A movie such as this goes a long way toward explaining the deep-seated anti-establishment drift of American presidential politics. The consumer confidence index doesn't measure the lack of faith Americans feel toward our institutions -- when a huge swath of would-be retirees lost their pensions and/or home equity they were counting on to fund their elder years, or were laid off at their prime, unable to make investment goals, and forced to take lower wage jobs if they could overcome age discrimination and find a job at all; of young people who cannot count on the American Dream of home ownership due to lowered job expectations and wages, often forced to live at home, and with crushing student loan debt. Meanwhile, the 1 percenters feel no pain and actually profit from the decline of the middle class, unaffected by the misery of the rest, as poverty grows. These oligarchs are calling the shots in the political narrative with a Congress they bought and paid for, bull horned into a media echo chamber they own, convincing the disaffected that someone else -- the marginalized themselves -- are to blame. In a sense, as a parallel to this film, the victimized are short selling the political process by supporting iconoclasts who promise to bring down the system they believe has failed them. Look at the candidates. Where are the words -- much less plans and strategies -- for rebuilding faith in American institutions? The bubble has burst and we're witnessing the free fall.
41
One of the great and massively tragic failures of American government - and Mr. Obama - is the failure to extract payment or punishment from the rapacious bankers and traders who destroyed the lives of millions of Americans. The movie is as good and as entertaining as Mr. Scott says it is, but the stench of it is almost unbearable.
A kid peddling pot in the street or a hooker turning a twenty dollar trick ends up in prison, but the gilded slime who utterly ruined the lives of millions of families simply walked away, smug and free.
Mr. Obama, temperamentally unsuited to confrontation, a bought and paid-for Congress and a justice system either indifferent to or intimidated by the complexities of white collar crime, simply shrugged and moved on. It may be time to replace the stars and stripes with a flag bearing dollar signs, because it becomes clearer every day that that is what truly matters in this country.
A kid peddling pot in the street or a hooker turning a twenty dollar trick ends up in prison, but the gilded slime who utterly ruined the lives of millions of families simply walked away, smug and free.
Mr. Obama, temperamentally unsuited to confrontation, a bought and paid-for Congress and a justice system either indifferent to or intimidated by the complexities of white collar crime, simply shrugged and moved on. It may be time to replace the stars and stripes with a flag bearing dollar signs, because it becomes clearer every day that that is what truly matters in this country.
94
I agree, but Obama followed the lead of George W. Bush. No one wants to stand up to the bankers. When they paid out huge bonuses congress could have taxed the money heavily, but they never did. Both parties are at fault.
5
The world I inhabit is roughly 50% female. The movie clips presented here don't resonate with me at all.
6
If you were able to escape from your neat fantasy world, you would know that Wall Street is well over 95% male. But who needs reality when you can construct one that suits your identity issues.
32
You do realize that the movie is based on a book that is based on real people, don't you? Those people were almost all male.
14
B, Spotlight, Bridge of Spies, Big Short, tis the season of the middle aged white male. The white middle aged half of me relates. And all of these are excellent movies. They just happen to be topics that were by their nature male dominated.
Which stories get green-lighted (based on true stories, go!) determines what or who we'll see on screen. You can't blame a movie for not having more women or minorities, but you can question Hollywood producers who are in charge of choosing what gets made.
We need a flood of talent coming up with excellent screenplays that feature greater on-screen diversity, of all kinds.
Which stories get green-lighted (based on true stories, go!) determines what or who we'll see on screen. You can't blame a movie for not having more women or minorities, but you can question Hollywood producers who are in charge of choosing what gets made.
We need a flood of talent coming up with excellent screenplays that feature greater on-screen diversity, of all kinds.
5
So when is the Justice Department going to step up and step in? Are they hoping we'll forget all about it?.
17
Why, heck, to hear the most extreme conservatives tell it, the whole crisis was somehow the fault of the liberals who wanted to help poor people to own homes. And I guess we could lump in George W for promoting greater home ownership. Which he did.
Now this film introduces nuance into the mix (and humor).
Could we opine that the right's simplistic marketplace of ideas is truly the perpetual "bull" market?
Now, that would make a great comedy film.
Now this film introduces nuance into the mix (and humor).
Could we opine that the right's simplistic marketplace of ideas is truly the perpetual "bull" market?
Now, that would make a great comedy film.
16
...or if you believe Rick Santelli on CNBC, the fault of those poor people themselves, for getting in over their heads. Certainly not the fault of the greedy umpteen others at the closing table, or the bundlers and securitizers who knew or should have known it was all a house of cards destined to fall. If you really want to see something that makes you puke, just Youtube Santelli's rant....
7
After reading the book, The Big Short - I couldn't believe that the actions taken by mortgage companies and investment houses could even be legal. Let's all not fail to remember that no one has gone to jail for any of this idiocy and the rules haven't changed. Let's all remember that the banks are now bigger than ever and any hint to limit the wall between commercial and investment banking is seen as anti-Wall Street (hence anti-American) by both Democrats and Republicans. The lure of easy money is still as strong as ever and we generally lose the biggest slice of our best and brightest youth to the world of finance.
8
Technically the higher rated tranches should be at the bottom of the tower so the top would collapse leaving the bottom intact. They're listed at the top in the paper used to set them up but the way they're structured the bottom (lower rated) erodes first leaving the top intact. That is, you could mess up the top of the tower and the higher rated tranches, at the bottom, would be OK. Of course, if you take those tranches and make a new tower with it, the CDO's, then this is more accurate.
Despite that if the movie provokes some outrage then it's doing the right thing. Most people still don't know exactly what happened and, if they did, they'd be incredibly angry.
Despite that if the movie provokes some outrage then it's doing the right thing. Most people still don't know exactly what happened and, if they did, they'd be incredibly angry.
4
So now Hollywood has memorialized this tragedy.
I remember Ben Bernanke famously saying first that there was no problem with sub prime mortgages and then later that the problem was contained.
And what w do we do now? we pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars to speak
Is there any better example of Michael Lewis' "Liars, Idiots and Lying Idiots" take on Finance.
I remember Ben Bernanke famously saying first that there was no problem with sub prime mortgages and then later that the problem was contained.
And what w do we do now? we pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars to speak
Is there any better example of Michael Lewis' "Liars, Idiots and Lying Idiots" take on Finance.
12
Rather than give acceptance speeches buddies at the awards-the actors need to talk about the point of the film help get people attention and hopefully some legal action.
20
The American people are ignorant and apathetic: they don't know and they don't care. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we buy.
7
While the review of this great film rightly points out that "there is no happy ending to this story, no punishment for the crime," one might hope for a film focusing on the heroic efforts of the elected officials, consumer advocates, legal services attorneys, private consumer law attorneys, community and civil rights groups, and, yes, business, investigative and general news reporters and book writers who did act to expose and thwart the evils of subprime mortgage lending while representing and protecting countless numbers of homeowners who were victimized by this Wall Street juggernaut called the subprime mortgage lending industry. Their stories were covered in countless news publications and books including, but certainly not limited to, "Broke, USA," by Gary Rivlin, "Reckless Endangerment," by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua A. Rosner, and "The Monster," by Michael W. Hudson. Columbia Journalism Professor Dean Starkman's excellent book, "The Watchdog That Didn't Bark: The Financial Crisis and the Disappearance of Investigative Journalism," reveals the failures (and the many successes) of the financial crisis news coverage.
11
The film does give the impression that the out-of-control secondary market betting on stocks was something new under the sun. Actually, there was a similar sequence of events a century ago. Progressive state legislation outlawing "bucket shops" halted it. In the wave of deregulation late in the WJC administration, federal law trumped those state laws, and the like of "credit default swaps" became legal once more. See http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-bet-that-blew-up-wall-street/
4
I wonder if after the AG Loretta Lynch, the greatest thing since sliced bread, sees this, she will refocus her department away from soccer and to the criminals who almost destroyed the world economy and are still sitting pretty with their billions. Probably not. Gotta get them terrorists!
5
I'm not sure who Lynn in quoting but i have never 'informed my consent' or denial via the press. The press is a reflection of us as a free people - it should not qualify as a substitution for original thought, nor be brought to bear the responsibility of changing political or social behavior. Watergate, and a host of other revelations about crime and fraud are the happy consequence of a free press - period. The rating agencies, human nature, and a bunch of greedy people on wall St much smarter and even more corrupt than the government meant to regulate them, are at fault. In addition a bunch or greedy people on Main St. bear blame for buying houses they knew they could not afford. no one - including the press - has been able to endict these criminals successfully - and the fraud continues. Mortgage securitization is back, as well as a similar trend in car leasing. No one cares. We all should.
3
For almost 3 decades many of us in manufacturing were raising alarms about the dire consequences of moving away from the making things to the making of convoluted financial instruments, products, packages and artifacts (all old school manufacturing terms used by the financial wizards to, perhaps - make them more palatable to skeptical investors). Our best and brightest mathematicians, engineers and scientists left, wholesale - their respective STEM careers and became Wall Street Quants - engineering the financial debacle that drastically shrank our middle class.
26
I am very excited to see this. What a dream cast! I read the book a few years back and while much of the financial speak was baffling some things really stood out for me. One in particular was that the ratings agencies - Moody's, S&P etc - failed miserably to stop this debacle from unfolding. I really feel they should have been sanctioned for consistently giving these toxic assets a AAA rating even though they were patently risky. While the banks were severely blamed for their part in the disaster, the ratings agencies seemed to walk away unscathed which I felt was just wrong.
8
"Certainly not the government officials and banking executives who remain at liberty and in positions of power to this day. Or if they did know, they didn’t care." Let's be clear - the fact is "THEY" knew, and THEY don't care and THEY still don't. It's worse now than ever before- and unless Glass-Steagall is put back, (that will not happen under Hillary Clinton) until there is Real OVERSIGHT and some bankers are put in jail, we, as a society are absolutely going off the cliff, heading into Dystopia. If the Public really knew what Wall Street bankers and lawyers were up to and are capable of, they would see that "The Big Short" describes a toothpick, not a brick in the wall of corrupt financial products; as Buffett says "Weapons of Mass destruction" to define derivatives, just as a start. To quote Orwell "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." That would be the boot of Wall Street, stamping on your face, while they laugh all the way to Southampton.
27
Of all of the great writing in the Times, the best, I think, comes consistently from Dargis, Holden, and Scott. From that triumvirate, I think the following sentence is about the most wonderful thing I have ever read about a movie:
"I don’t condone mob violence and I’m supposed to keep my political opinions to myself, but as soon as I’m done writing this I’m going out to the garage to look for a pitchfork."
Thanks. This movie is now on my list.
"I don’t condone mob violence and I’m supposed to keep my political opinions to myself, but as soon as I’m done writing this I’m going out to the garage to look for a pitchfork."
Thanks. This movie is now on my list.
13
In the trailer, the list of those at fault omits the press ( unless the failures of the press are included in the criticism of " corporate greed" for the media newsotainment). In a democracy, we rely on the press to " inform our consent".
I do recall warnings from Paul Krugman, in this newspaper. I also recall reading at the time about a speech Hillary Clinton gave during the Presidential campaign in March 2008, warning about the huge risks subprime mortgages represented to homeowners, but since she was campaigning this was covered by the political press, which ignored it and focused on whether she cried in New Hampshire or what her husband meant by a comment.
I am sure others who were not so prominent and did not have a forum also were concerned and could have been found and their concerns highlighted if there still were resources available for the kind of investigative journalism we need to enable voters to make informed decisions. There were enough prominent warnings ( eg from Krugman, Clinton) that the press surely failed to fulfill its role too.
I would like to replace the entire poll, rumor, campaign strategy oriented press corps with reporters with deep training and insight into policy.
I do recall warnings from Paul Krugman, in this newspaper. I also recall reading at the time about a speech Hillary Clinton gave during the Presidential campaign in March 2008, warning about the huge risks subprime mortgages represented to homeowners, but since she was campaigning this was covered by the political press, which ignored it and focused on whether she cried in New Hampshire or what her husband meant by a comment.
I am sure others who were not so prominent and did not have a forum also were concerned and could have been found and their concerns highlighted if there still were resources available for the kind of investigative journalism we need to enable voters to make informed decisions. There were enough prominent warnings ( eg from Krugman, Clinton) that the press surely failed to fulfill its role too.
I would like to replace the entire poll, rumor, campaign strategy oriented press corps with reporters with deep training and insight into policy.
203
Or, more accurately, lack of policy. In a system like ours, the tiny mammals will eat their way into whatever is available while the dinos go on their oblivious way. I remember an NPR interview where a perp said something like, "I know it was insane but if we didn't do it someone else would and they would make all that MONEY!" Without appropriate policy to regulate these dangerous risks that are also tremendous opportunities, our system provides only incentives to take them.
3
You mean, Lynn, a Fourth Estate independant of the condemnation of the plutocracy, and dedicated solely to the commonweal?
I told Orville, I told Wilbur, and I'm telling you: the thing will never get off the ground!
I told Orville, I told Wilbur, and I'm telling you: the thing will never get off the ground!
2
When we assert that, 'In a democracy, we rely on the press to " inform our consent" ', we need to remember that their customers are, in significant measure, their advertisers who pay them to deliver eyeballs (or keyclicks). When we, the public, choose free (advertiser-supported) media, we vote with our feet (fingers?) for what kind of news coverage we get. It would be interesting to know what the subscription cost of the New York Times would be if they took no advertising. Meanwhile, we have another disaster of global proportions, global warming, to test our theories about the prescience of media coverage.
3