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The Inside Job/Ethics on Wall Street

Did the Wall Street Exec's behave Ethically?

  • Yes, I've seen Inside Job

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No, I've seen Inside Job

    Votes: 1 16.7%

  • Yes, I haven't seen Inside Job

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No, I haven't seen Inside Job

    Votes: 5 83.3%
  • Total voters
    6
repeter

repeter

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Recently, I watched a movie called The Inside Job. It was about the financial meltdown, how it happened, why it happened, and what the major repercussions will be (that last one are implied).

It talked to everyone from various professors at Harvard, to former treasury secretaries, fed chairmen, IMF Directos, etc.

It shed light on the morality of a lot of the dealings in Wall Street.

So, I ask this question, legality aside: was the behavior of the Wall Street Exec's ethical?
 
repeter said:
Recently, I watched a movie called The Inside Job. It was about the financial meltdown, how it happened, why it happened, and what the major repercussions will be (that last one are implied).

It talked to everyone from various professors at Harvard, to former treasury secretaries, fed chairmen, IMF Directos, etc.

It shed light on the morality of a lot of the dealings in Wall Street.

So, I ask this question, legality aside: was the behavior of the Wall Street Exec's ethical?
Click to expand...

I voted no, they did not act ethically at all based on my other readings of the meltdown. I've not see the movie, would you give us some of the main points made?
 
I did see that one of his documentaries won and Academy Award. I guess that puts him right up there with Michael Moore, doesn't it?
 
Patrickt said:
I did see that one of his documentaries won and Academy Award. I guess that puts him right up there with Michael Moore, doesn't it?
Click to expand...

Not at all...

Catawba said:
I voted no, they did not act ethically at all based on my other readings of the meltdown. I've not see the movie, would you give us some of the main points made?
Click to expand...

It documented how the investment banking system worked at the time of the collapse, and what the setup was. It explained how a lot of the insurance companies, like AIG, were set up to take the fall, and to pass along the risk of the failure of previously made deals to investors. The government had consistently deregulated the economy since the 80's, with nearly every President, Treasury Secretary, and Fed Chairmen since then at fault. The big thing I didn't realize was the essential repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1990.

The movie implied the only reason the banks/investment banks failed was because of the deals in the process of being completed, which means the big execs were blind-sided along withthe rest of us. Last, the movie highlighted most of the people at fault, and the problem with the corporate culture on Wall Street.
 
repeter said:
Not at all...



It documented how the investment banking system worked at the time of the collapse, and what the setup was. It explained how a lot of the insurance companies, like AIG, were set up to take the fall, and to pass along the risk of the failure of previously made deals to investors. The government had consistently deregulated the economy since the 80's, with nearly every President, Treasury Secretary, and Fed Chairmen since then at fault. The big thing I didn't realize was the essential repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1990.

The movie implied the only reason the banks/investment banks failed was because of the deals in the process of being completed, which means the big execs were blind-sided along withthe rest of us. Last, the movie highlighted most of the people at fault, and the problem with the corporate culture on Wall Street.
Click to expand...

In effect, they bought insurance on crap they put together, so they could profit from it when it failed?
 
Catawba said:
In effect, they bought insurance on crap they put together, so they could profit from it when it failed?
Click to expand...

Yeah, and they sold the crap to people, and other companies. They made money on every single front. Its funny, AIG had to have known they were eventually going to get f**ked over by the process, and the CEO/Board were perfectly willing to screw their company for the money they were making.
 
The CEOs were unethical.
The workers themselves, the investment bankers, are not to blame. These guys usually work ~90-100 hours a week and they were usually just following their superiors' directions.
 
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