Inside Job

This is an excellent documentary about the 2008 financial crisis, made in 2010 by Charles Ferguson, which caused a loss of $20 trillion, and tens of millions of jobs worldwide. The main cause of the collapse was the self-serving interface between politicians, economists and academics that created the crisis, based on a flawed economic model.

The film is divided into five parts:

1. How We Got Here, looks at how deregulation and the development of complex financial instruments happened starting with the Reagan years.

2. The Bubble, examines the causes of the sub-prime mortgage loans which were so toxic during the early 2000s.

3. The Crisis, looks at how the collapse played out, and why companies and banks that were on the brink of disaster were still being given good ratings by the agencies.

4. Accountability, shows how, even though the whole market had been driven by greed and deliberate insider trading no one had to pay for it except the poor.

5. Where We Are Now, looks at what has happened since to bring these institutions under control, which is approximately zero. We are not even back at the beginning, but in a worse position now that before the crisis.

We are 10 years on since this film was made, and seemingly nothing has been learned in the meantime. With the debt bubble in the US at an all-time high, and another collapse imminent, the only question is not if, but when. We already know though who will pay, and it will not be the top 1%.