Understanding how the economy got to where it is today is no easy task. Elizabeth Warren, Harvard Law Professor and supersmart economic wonkette, succinctly summarized the frightening state of our economy today:
Tens of millions of once-secure middle class families now live paycheck to paycheck, watching as their debts pile up and worrying about whether a pink slip or a bad diagnosis will send them hurtling over an economic cliff.
Most people intuitively understand this without Warren’s extensive study of economics. But how did we get here, and how will we pull ourselves out? For those who want to learn more about the history and future of the American economy, the following films will take you a long way.
TOP TEN MOVIES ABOUT THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
1. In Debt We Trust
Danny Schechter’s documentary explores “financialization,” or the powerful emergence of a debt-and-credit industrial complex. Middle-class Americans are likely modern-day serfs to the credit card and mortgage industries. Examining the relationship between Congress and the credit complex, this film asks whether we should be tearing down all of our factories and replacing them with shopping malls.
2. Capitalism: A Love Story
An entertaining docu-romp by Michael Moore explores the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans. Elizabeth Warren (yes–I’m a huge fan) is featured on one of the bonus tracks, “How Wall Street Got Away with Murder.” As she says, “Responsibility is not just about blame. Responsibility is about making sure we fix this, and it will not happen again.” Unfortunately, Moore seems more concerned with blame, and often tends toward oversimplification/histrionics. Still, the film’s looks at personal aspects of the subprime mortgage meltdown is at times heart-wrenching.
3. I.O.U.S.A
Patrick Creadon’s film follows former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he explains to Americans their elected leader’s unsustainable fiscal policies. The film contains absolutely stunning visual demonstrations of otherwise dry economic statistics. The Bush-baiting is a bit dated, but the excellent visual depictions of stagflation and the trade deficit make this film well worth your time.
4. The Ascent of Money
British historian Niall Ferguson explores in four one-hour sections the dual relationships between money and empire, war and revolution. Section One, From Bullion to Bubbles: Fibonacci’s contribution to financial calculations, the Medici’s usurpation of Italian Jews as money-lenders, war as “the father of the bond market,” and the Dutch invention of the corporation. Section Two, Bonds of War: John Law’s Ponzi scheme leads to the French Revolution, the effects of war and peace on bonds, the first modern “property crash,” and the rise of a middle class. Section Three, Risky Business: the birth of modern insurance industry, Japan as a welfare state, the economy of Chile under Pinochet, personal retirement accounts, and how George Soros short-sold the Bank of England. Section Four, Planet Finance: the invention of the “property-owning democracy,” the ethnicity-credit nexus, the savings and loan bust, financial deregulation under Ronald Reagan, the IMF and the World Bank, “subprime nations,” microfinancing, and China as banker to the United States.
5. Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders
The raw truth is that credit card companies flood our mailboxes with four billion credit card offers each year. James Scurlock’s documentary brings into sharp focus the tragic consequences for individuals who find themselves overextended. One collection agent from the film: “You’re like this pirate on a pirate ship, and you’re walking them out on the plank. And you want them just as far as you can get them out on that plank without pushing them off.” The tagline of the film: “Nothing is Priceless.”
6. Frontline: The Warning
Michael Kirk’s PBS documentary explores the high-stakes fight between Brooksley Born, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. Henchmen Robert Rubin and Larry Summers play prominent roles here. Illuminating the struggle between regulation and laissez-faire on the battleground of OTC derivatives, Born describes derivatives as a “black box.” In Washington there are five financial lobbyists for every congressman. Want to see high-stakes Washington fireworks fly? UPDATE 6/14/2010: See “Do the Math: The Role of Derivatives in Fiscal Fallout” in the June 2010 Washington Lawyer for more information about Born.
7. American Casino
Leslie Cockburn’s film delves even more deeply into the subprime mortgage meltdown. The film basically posits that the major mortgage companies preyed upon the lower and middle classes to the eventual detriment of all homeowners. Former Bear Stearns and S&P employees provide insight into how the mortgage companies profited by putting families into homes they could not afford. Some of the devastated, all-American neighborhoods in the film distressingly resemble actual war zones.
8. We All Fall Down: The American Mortgage Crisis
The mortgage crisis also led to a sudden halt of business and personal lending. Gary Gasgarth’s documentary features an vertitble army of mortgage brokers, appraisers, bankers, and scholars who expose how the “mortgage machine” was able to securitize subprime mortgages. The film concludes with the sobering possibility of the impact of the mortgage crisis on the American economy.
9. Capitalism Hits the Fan
A lecture by Professor of Economics Richard D. Wolff that asserts that the crash of October 2008 defies categorization as a “usual” economic downturn. A socialist, Wolff believes that “the businesses of America ought to be operated and run by the workers who work in them.” I am not a socialist, and I do not agree with many of Wolff’s assertions, but he does make several interesting points, especially with regard to the historic instability of capitalism, and the “vast diminution of confidence” in the economy that has apparently taken root in the younger generations of America.
10: The Story of Stuff
Although focused less on the economy than on the promotion of environmental sustainability, this short film by Annie Leonard is included here for its examination of the roles of governments and corporations in our economy. An exploration of the “materials economy,” or the linear system of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. Surprising: on average Americans are exposed to about three thousand advertisements a day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian V. Lee is a bankruptcy lawyer in Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Lee Legal is a debt relief agency as defined by Section 528(a)(4) of the Bankruptcy Code. We help people file for relief under the Bankruptcy Code. Call (202) 448-5136 or visit http:/www.lee-legal.com for more information.