HBO has the documentary “Too Big To Fail” playing right now. Ive watched it twice now and I have some thoughts.
- The whole “For profit” meme is prevalent.
- There is a massive lack of backdrop regarding market incentives.
First, the show is top notch. The acting is A grade and the quality of the production is excellent. This is a great movie.
I’m a big believer in incentives. People tend to look out for their own self interests. Always have, always will. And this isn’t bad – wolves and cows and sparrows and gophers do the same thing. But we NEED to acknowledge that fact.
“Too Big To Fail” does a remarkable job at showing the thinking going on at the time of the failures. But I get the feeling that the message is wrong. That the message is “Greed”.
There is certainly enough to go around. However, I think the message of intervention and policy is underscored. Not one time in the show is it mentioned WHY these institutions would make these loans. For sure, there is talk about Fan and Fred being nationalized….but there isn’t a whiff about the impact they had on the market thinking.
The movie is worth watching. However, understand, it’s got a Left leaning slant.
And does a good job making that case.