The men who crashed the world

[Jefferson23]

The first of a four-part investigation into a world of greed and recklessness that led to financial collapse.

Meltdown Last Modified: 21 Sep 2011 09:26

In the first episode of Meltdown, we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne.


The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the edge of insolvency. Wall Street turned back the clock to 1929.

But how did it all go so wrong?

Lack of government regulation; easy lending in the US housing market meant anyone could qualify for a home loan with no government regulations in place.

Also, London was competing with New York as the banking capital of the world. Gordon Brown, the British finance minister at the time, introduced 'light touch regulation' - giving bankers a free hand in the marketplace.

in full: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/meltdown/2011/09/2011914105518615434.html

[cascadiance]

1. And so many of us (not us at DU) spend so much time cheering killing likely an innocent man...

yesterday in our warped view of justice. And these guys that do far more damage to the world and kill far more people than these other people (even if they were guilty) get off scott free.

Makes me ill!

[Blue_Tires]

3. +1

[yurbud]

13. I'd be more impressed if Obama got some of these scalps than over bin Laden's

these guys did far, far more damage.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I cannot recommend this strongly enough.

It is a great overview of what happened
and
a current view of what is happening NOW, again!!!!!

Watch it, see the chilling similarities between then and now, and do what you need to do to protect yourself, your money.

[RKP5637]

4. Yep! Yet another replay. n/t

[Jefferson23]

5. Thanks, this is the first of four. n/t

[vets74]

6. "Lack of government regulation" is too kind by half.

BushCo willfully served the interests of certain of Wall Street's criminal gangs.

Winners were assisted. Losers were crushed.

Paulson's scheme was a conspiracy of the first order. The selective scuttling of regulation -- disguised as operation of Self-Regulating Organizations and rules changes -- extended to everything from "AAA" bribery to naked shorts for the insiders.

It would have taken a Dwight Eisenhower to clean out this stable.

[vets74]

7. "Lack of government regulation" is too kind by half.

BushCo willfully served the interests of certain of Wall Street's criminal gangs.

Winners were assisted. Losers were crushed.

Paulson's scheme was a conspiracy of the first order. The selective scuttling of regulation -- disguised as operation of Self-Regulating Organizations and rules changes -- extended to everything from "AAA" bribery to naked shorts for the insiders.

It would have taken a Dwight Eisenhower to clean out this stable.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

8. The appropriate response is...

#occupywallstreet If the president and Congress won't end the chaos, then the people must.

[Jefferson23]

10. We certainly need to try, or we lose more. n/t

[Denver Progressive]

9. k&r

:kick: :kick:

[russspeakeasy]

11. A big thanks for the post...

:toast:

[Jefferson23]

12. You're very welcome..I will post the second installment when it's available. n/t