Cinephile No. 547 “The Big Short”
The economic regulations proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders don't seem so crazy after watching "The Big Short.” Now, I know this does more to reveal my political leanings than express a movie review you can grasp onto, but stay with me here. The explosion of the housing bubble at the end of 2007 was a complicated mess. Very few of us, at the time, understood anything about derivatives or mind-numbing banking instruments such as credit default swaps. This movie succeeds where others have failed and makes sense of the entire disaster. It manages to make difficult economics funny and personal. At the end of the day, millions of Americans had their lives destroyed by wild Wall Street speculation and institutions meant to protect us. Which brings me back to my opening line. After watching this movie, Mr. Sanders’ policy positions don’t seem so farfetched.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan