The thing that stood out most important to me in the film was that it was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. the reason I found this to be very important is because it put it in a great perspective to realize how big of a deal this financial crisis was. After reading The Grapes of Wrath we see how dramatic this time period is and how it majorly affected people. Then after watching The Inside Job movie and seeing how this crisis was compared to The Great Depression it put in a great perspective of how serious this problem was. It's hard to imagine something so serious happening to our economy just a couple of years ago.
The most troubling thing about the stock market crash was every time someone chose to be greedy our society had to pay for it. Another thing that stood out to me was how when the Lehman brothers gave million dollar raises during the stock market crash! it just shows you how money can make many people do crazy things.
The changes that I find absolutely necessary for Americans to make is for one "saving more." Just in case this were to happen again we are able to have money and not end up in so much debt after. Greed is also a very big factor in the stock market crash. To avoid this problem we need to learn to not keep striving for more and more money and focus on what we do have and think what needs to be done to make sure our money is protected that way we have no worries about becoming in debt, leading to future problems creating a bigger likelihood for another stock market crash to happen.
I think Andrew Sheng was my favorite person who was interviewed. He kept it very "real." he stated "Why should a financial engineer be paid four times or one hundred times more than a real engineer? Areal engineer build bridges. A financial engineer build dreams. And, you know, when those dreams turn into nightmares other people pay for it." I agree with this quote completely. It makes you wonder why the "real" engineers aren't getting paid more when it seems that they have done just as much for us as the financial engineers. If not maybe even more because they haven't set our country into a huge economic crisis like our well paid financial engineers have.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(film)
Great analysis, Morgan. I agree with your points here, especially those about greed and saving. I feel that the "American Dream" has become polluted, nowadays it's no longer about if you have the money do what you want with it, it's about everyone being able to have the dream on credit and with absolutely nothing to back it up. This infuriates me because, we are instilling in our posterity that it's okay to get what you want when you want it even if you can't afford it, your entitled to it, and you should do what you feel is right. What is that? It's a recipe for disaster.
ReplyDeleteAlso, saving is crucial. Staying ahead of the game will pay off down the road. Doing without some of the basic amenities and toys now will pay off in the future when you need to send your kids to college, buy your kids vehicles, etc.
Good work once again. Thoroughly enjoyed the quote!