Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis

Sorry but this isn't a documentary, it's BS propaganda that wants to say: we saved you, with your money!

Really professional documentary with all the key players involved, certainly giving me an insight into the motivations and hard work behind keeping the US and probably the world economy afloat. However...what was disappointing was the lack of challenge to the actions that took place, the lack of a counter view. All we got was the acknowledgement that they realised their actions were unpopular, but they maintained they were necessary.

The government, financial watchdogs and banks caused the recession due to a combination of actions. Successive governments starting with Reagan and leading to the present day have removed the "checks and balances" that were in place to prevent another depression. Where are the consequences for these people?

• How can any system & country be in a situation where a private company can destroy the economy and create misery for millions?
• Why weren't measures and controls in place to ensure this didn't happen?
• Why weren't all the management removed for all the companies involved?
• What measures are now in place?
• What retrospective actions has or is happening to hold the banking system accountable for the misery they created?

Unfortunately, in the end we only got the perspective of the people that caused this crisis and how they went about trying to fix it.

There were other options; how about nationalising the banks to ensure credit was lent to businesses (I know the US is irrationally against any form of socialism, but this was a viable option). A recession is not caused by the banks going bankrupt, it was caused by the lack of "credit" being available to businesses and people, so resolve that issue, rather than just keeping the guilty people in a job and maintaining a morally corrupt system.

Anyway, it was a well-made documentary, just too one sided and no real challenging questions were put to the people who caused the problem.

"Panic: The Untold Story of the 20098 financial Crisis" (2018 release; 96 min.) is a documentary on the roots of the 2008 financial crisis, how the crisis itself unfolded, and most importantly, the unintended long-term consequences of it all. As the documentary opens, we are "September 11, 2018", as all of the main players from a decade earlier get together for a remembrance dinner. We then go back to "May 9, 2006", not long after Henk Paulson has joined the Bush administration as the Treasury Secretary, and the market is showing signs of a housing bubble. It sets into motion a financial crisis of unimaginable proportions. At this point we are 10 min. into the film.

Couple of comments: the film makers concentrate on the three main guys: then Treasury Secretary Henk Paulson, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Timothy Geithner, and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke. These three band together as a triumvirate and rarely decide anything without consulting each other. Interestingly, all three make clear that they are motivated to do whatever it takes to avoid another Great Depression. Of course many others are featured as well. Several things are striking: (i) when facing calamity, the political leaders in Washington came together and acted in a bipartisan way that is simply and utterly unthinkable in today's climate; (ii) "we should've done a better job explaining to the public what we were doing", sighs Paulson, and he is right of course; mostly lost in the narrative of the financial industry's bailout is the inconvenient truth that all of the $700 billion TARP bailout money was repaid WITH INTEREST to the US government; (iii) perhaps most surprisingly, former President George W. Bush comes across as a calming yet resolute leader who lets the experts do their job (meaning, the complete opposite of the current POTUS).

The last 15 min. of the documentary are the most revealing, as it just "the straight line between the the financial crisis and the populism in today's politics, linked by the rise of the Tea Party starting in 2009. It is absolutely devastating to see how in just a single decade we are now living in a world of untruths, disinformation, lies, conspiracy theorists, the real v. imagined "deep state", and the shocking incompetence and complete lack of leadership coming from the current POTUS and his administration. Meanwhile, "Panic: The Untold Truth of the 2008 Financial Crisis" is a riveting documentary that contains a lot of valuable lessons to understand how we got where we are today.

First, the initial vote in Congress was on a 3-page plan and that's why it was rejected by angry congressmen who were willing to know how the money would be spend. There is no mentioning that the Congress requested Bernanke to present a detailed plan and a few days later it was accepted. Secondly, under Bernanke the treasury and SEC were doing virtually nothing to monitor financial institutions and to alarm the public. All of a sudden the credit rating agencies that failed to properly assess risks before announced a massive downgrade of 400+ companies at once, which triggered the huge panic. And finally, Paulson did very little to prevent a crisis in 2007 and could push much stronger to cap bonuses and CEO's salaries and did very little, nothing to be proud of. GWB proved his incompetence in selecting a treasure secretary as in almost everything else he did. Those "heroes" brought significant wealth to their friends among bankers and robbed millions.

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?! Give the money directly to Wall Street! Simply hilarious, I laughed continuously at the hidden humor throughout this documentary, it was a blast! I had to score this at 9 simply due to the level of persons interviewed in the making of this documentary. A calling card such as HBO is a really powerful hand, which clearly has the juice to attract the leaders of the free world and those involved. A true inside look into the perspectives of those involved and the inner workings of the government personnel surrounding this situation. Of all the documentaries on this subject (which you should watch), this is the definitive one.