Hank: 5 Years from the Brink

Great interview with Hank, and great interview with his wife Wendy. But that's it. No opposing viewpoint. In fact, basically no corroborating viewpoint. It's all Hank all the time. And very curiously, the term credit default swap is not mentioned a single time, even though there was exponentially more money at risk in credit default swaps over mortgages than there were in actual mortgages- and this is the main illiquid asset that caused the investment bank failures. Seems bizarre that Hank doesn't mention this. And it seems bizarre to have a 2 hour documentary without any journalism whatsoever. I give one star for the lighting and pleasant interviews with Wendy. It is a common tactic to use family members to win over an audience, and this part worked on me.

Even as we are slowly creeping out of the great recession, close to a depression I don't really understand the dynamics of what happen. I also wonder why no one ever took the blame or went to jail. The big guys got bailed out and the little guy got holding the back. In this fascinating documentary, Hank, Five Years From the Brink, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson under the Bush administration takes you an insider's account of what actually happen. It follows pretty much the way his own memoir reads. This movie also points to the way that our leaders pretty much muddle through our problems. This market was falling, the economy was in the tank, and the government just pumped money in to hold up the failing institutions. You don't need a degree in political science to follow the story, just sit back and listen to this man who was there. I saw this film as part of the 2014 Atlanta Film Festival.

Hank Paulson, who was named as one of the top 25 people who plunged the world into an "Economic Meltdown" in 2008 by Time magazine, gets a face-lift in this movie produced by his buddy, Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg Businessweek. Not only have other documentaries shown he was the catalyst that drove the recession in 2008 onward, it was his idea to bail out the banks that proved to be the worst, possible decision ever made. Now that Paulson, Bloomberg, and Thomas Steyer are all on the same page with their global-warming mambo-jumbo, the first thing that needed to be done was repair Paulson's terrible public image by making this movie. For a more accurate view, watch Inside Job or Too Big to Fail for a more critical, truthful portrayal of this windbag. This movie is nothing more than nanny Bloomberg's shallow attempt at giving Paulson a public do-over.

It's also no secret that when he became treasury Secretary, he sold nearly $500 million in Goldman Sachs stock without paying a single penny in capital gains taxes (or any taxes for that matter). In July 2006, "Henry Paulson liquidated 3.23 million shares of Goldman, roughly 1% of the entire company, in a one-time public sale." That left Paulson with a tax-free gain of $491 million. Read that again: $491 million free and clear. Without this loophole, Paulson would have been liable for more than "$200 million worth of state and Federal capital gains taxes." Why? In 1989, the government created a "one-time loophole that gives the political candidate the ability to liquidate his or her entire portfolio without paying a dime in capital gains taxes." The loophole only applies to the President, Vice President and cabinet Secretaries. Congress does not qualify. The rich DO get richer, as did Paulson, who is now parlaying his fame (infamy?) by teaming up with nanny Bloomberg Productions and scare-tactics Steyer, the phony triptych of the modern world.

Another financial crisis will erupt again in a different form with a different outcome. Capital Hill had to smell like rotten fish for a few weeks. The next time, we might not be so lucky as all of banking (for the next bailout) will smell like rottening human flesh only longer. I worry we will not be able to afford "ballouts." Then where do we go?

A film is a well directed, beautifully edited piece of cinematography. A joy to watch... if you're death, retarded or come from a remote village somewhere on the Ohuahu islands in the Pacific. An absolute one sided view of a one man actions with no opposite opinion being presented. Even though most of the economic community think that the actions of Hank Paulson did more harm to the world's economy than anything else and Mr. Paulson should be convicted of treason, he is portrayed as a larger that life Jesus like figure. Once again I would recommend to watch this movie only for people who do understand what had happened during this period of time in world's economy. Otherwise we will end up with a false perception of the processes happening in the economy now as a result of a reckless use of taxpayer's money to save several banksters from bankruptcy. Bringing the economy back to the dark ages for the slow and painful recovery and a deflation spiral we're experiencing now.