Watched
Inside Job last night, a documentary about the financial crisis. I highly recommend it. It basically breaks down how places like Lehmans and AIG were able to collapse which led to others collapsing and a huge economic crisis in general. The whole thing was pretty surreal to watch. I mean, it happened in our lifetimes, not very long ago at all. I don't think I appreciated what an enormous thing it was for society when it was actually happening. So much of our lives and who we are were shaped by the elements and culture surrounding, leading up to, and following the financial collapse.
Overall, great documentary. One of the most important I've seen. Left me with the impression that something like this will happen again one day. No major changes were really made to prevent it from happening again. It's a systematic problem: when financial markets aren't regulated enough, companies (people) will eventually start taking bigger gambles than they should in the pursuit of riches. AIG should have never been allowed to pass the buck on decreasing their exposure to the financial products they were insuring. They were an insurance company for god's sake! They're supposed to be the line in the sand where the speculation stops. It's just human nature. We'll see another huge financial crisis like this again in our lifetimes. People don't learn any lessons.