“The Big Short” is a film about the 2008 economic crash that ultimately sent the U.S. and the global economy into a massive economic crisis, caused the eviction of millions of families from their homes, and led to the layoffs of millions of workers.
The film tells the true story of a group of Wall Street traders who made millions of dollars by betting that the entire housing market was one big bubble that was about to crash. Through telling their story, the film exposes the lies, corruption, and greed consciously carried out by the entire banking industry.
Every major institution that was connected to the banking industry was aware of the fraud that was taking place in the housing market but so much money was being made that no one wanted to stop it. The government would give out close to zero-interest loans to large financial institutions, which in turn would lend it to various mortgage firms, which would eventually lend it to people buying houses.
But one of the points made in the film was that during this period, as home purchases were skyrocketing along with home prices, the average income of new home buyers was never going up, and in some cases it was going down. So it didn’t make any sense how there could possibly be an increase in housing purchases.
Unless, of course, the banks were giving out loans to people who were too poor to ever afford to pay those loans back. And this is exactly what the banks knew they were doing. They set people up for failed loans, evictions, and enormous suffering – all because the banks could make a killing off of it.
Overall the film “The Big Short” is an excellent glimpse into the conscious corruption and greed of those who benefit from this economic system, the super rich who are willing to rip apart the lives of millions of people just to make massive profits.
