Boom Bust Boom

I don't know anything about economics but I found this program very interesting and definitely entertaining! At times if I stopped paying attention I got slightly lost, but it explained things in multiple ways to make it easier to understand. The funny clips from movies and cartoons were great and well-placed to highlight what was being talked about.

It was an enjoyable hour but by no means was it groundbreaking. For someone who is not intimately acquainted with economics Boom Bust Boom could be an enjoyable lighthearted crash course in the 2008 recession and a few other basic economic theories/concepts. For economists and anyone studying economics, such as myself, the film is lacking any kind of in depth discussion of the finer details relating to the 2008 recession and does not really tell you anything that you do not already know about the recession and the field of economics. It relies almost entirely on quotes and discussion by some notable, and some not notable, economists and academics. I can only recall a few actual data points being used, such as the size of the government bailouts paid to failing banks. So, Boom Bust Boom should not be taken as a serious economic analysis, it gives you the quick and dirty outline of the 2008 recession and the crisis tendency of capitalism but does not go much further.

Greetings again from the darkness. On the heels of Adam McKay's scathing and entertaining explanation of the 2008 financial collapse comes Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) with a more global perspective of the same era. McKay's Oscar nominated The Big Short was designed to let us know who did what and why, while Jones' version applies a British spin and his wildly creative approach in breaking down the long-standing economic models that wreak havoc with our money.

Jones has joined forces with Economics Professor Theo Kocken to school us on the "leftover" strategies and economic models used by Politicians and Bankers … models that assume the market (investors and institutions) will act rationally. Our education comes courtesy of a multi-media show featuring animation, puppets, music and expert interviews (economists, authors, academic leaders, and at least 3 Nobel Prize winners).

According to the movie (and it's difficult to argue otherwise), human nature is the Achilles heel of Capitalism. In fact, they use the term euphoria to describe the phenomenon that occurs as "stable" economic times lead to more risk and more debt. Debt clearly is the most profound 4-letter word in economics.

A film within the film … "Terry Jones' Short History of Financial Crisis" takes us back to the 1500's and through modern times, as the same mistakes recur. One of the more effective sequences shows State of the Union addresses from President Calvin Coolidge (1928) and President George W Bush (2006). Both speeches proclaim solid economies only 1-2 years prior to the two biggest collapses in U.S. history … just two extreme examples that the experts have no idea where the economy is headed as long as they continue to utilize the models that have proved to be ineffective.

It's fascinating to get specifics on Hyman Minsky's "Financial Instability Hypothesis", as well as an explanation of the Neoclassical Economic Model (better known as the Free Market). Insight is provided by University of Texas Professor James Galbraith, son of famed economist John K Galbraith, and it's quite enlightening to hear Allan Greenspan (a long time believer in the Free Market system) admit to being wrong about expecting rational behavior from those in the market.

The movie will forever act as a reminder for us to pinch ourselves should we think "this time is different". In fact there is a movement by Economics students to change the way Economics degrees and PhD programs are structured – more emphasis on learning from history, and re-thinking and re-designing economic models. The applicable websites are: http://www.rethinkeconomics.org/ http://www.ecnmy.org/

The movie is perfect at its intended purpose. I'm not doing this as an economist but considering that economists have watched ships fall off the edge of the earth I'm not sure that would be helpful. Towards the ending I find the best tool by finding a very useful group or think tank to follow. In fact I will follow many people in this movie. I found it obvious the 2008 crash was going to happen. I tried to convince my spouse to sell our house but he didn't understand what we would do. I said we're gonna buy the house back or another one in a few months because obviously the markets about to crash. Humans act like humans. Silly economics where you listen to experts talk about jibber and jabber while they make money no matter what happens is ridiculous economics. Economics and all that stuff is generally just the science of how to rip people off who can be taken advantage of. It's no different than any other scam system. People in the government, people outside the government, people in banks, people who are smart realize that there's a big pyramid scheme going on and they just play along and get out on time if they can. If I could've seen it anybody could've seen it. I think it's funny that some people put that their review contain spoilers. All the spoilers are in the news and on the Internet. This is a movie about what happens in the economy and what happened in the economy and what will happen again in the economy.

This is a serious overview of economic crashes & bubbles with a focus towards the 2008 crash. A lot of history is presented as almost every crash including the most recent was history & people repeating the same actions. Primarily is interviews with various economists both alive & (using puppets) dead. A few clips from movies & TV plus new animation injecting humor.

This documentary is targeted towards the average person for whom economic history and specifically the causes of the 2008 crash is all new. Otherwise, this is slightly entertaining to watch but will not be very informative.

This is well put together. It would have been nice to get deeper into the topics but I am not the target audience. But if you are, then I recommend watching.