I've seen yesterday the documentary "Inside Job" that has won an Oscar for the best documentary of 2010. It is a documentary about the financial crisis directed by Charles H. Ferguson explaining how changes in the policy environment and banking practices contributed to the financial crisis of the past few years. It shows clearly that if certain changes had been made, warnings listened and followed, corruption restricted - the financial crisis could have been avoided. The movie introduces certain financial instruments and explains clearly the risks involved with them, it follows year by year developments on the financial market, shows when the first warnings were given by economists as well as presents lack of political response to them. What caught most of my attention were the interviews with various reknowned economists who 'happened' to also be consultants either of the US government or/and major financial companies and banks. Presented in this movie their ignorance as far as morality of certain choices they had made is astounding. And it ends on a scary note: nothing seems to be changing in the US financial policy despite election promises of Obama...
I recommend this movie to anyone. I think it's interesting both for people who have in-depth knowledge as to financial markets, as well as regular consumers who are thinking about investing on the financial market or taking mortgages. Of course, you need to be a bit wary since this movie is definitely leaving you with a certain view that they intended to inflict upon you: bankers are corrupt and care only about their own money, and not about their clients' interests. Still, one cannot help but wonder how much of what is presented in it is more of a rule than an exception.
