"Inside Job" Movie

I would be interested in hearing the opinion of anyone who has seen the documentary film "Inside Job". I recently saw this film and have been thinking about the arguments mde by the filmmakers. It is difficult to contest their premise that deregulation, lack of government oversight (both former and current administrations) and the very lax "opinions" of the credit rating agencies created an... [more]

I would be interested in hearing the opinion of anyone who has seen the documentary film "Inside Job". I recently saw this film and have been thinking about the arguments mde by the filmmakers. It is difficult to contest their premise that deregulation, lack of government oversight (both former and current administrations) and the very lax "opinions" of the credit rating agencies created an environment in which serious abuses were undertaken by financial institutions. In addition, they detail the financial ties between various influential academic economists who argue for deregulation and the financial institutions which pay these economists high fees to serve on corporate boards or act as consultants. Some statements made in the film struck me as questionable such as the assertion that the SEC failed to investigate any major investment bank from 2001-2007. There was a good deal of Monday morning quarterbacking by those interviewed in the film. One statement about the distinction between engineers who build bridges and "financial engineers" who build dreams seemed overly simplistic. I do recommend the documentary. It is very absorbing and the filmmakers present their arguments well. [less]