As the 2008 financial crisis loomed, frantic efforts to save the US from economic collapse happened in secret. VICE News explores the untold stories of powerful people leading the way.As the 2008 financial crisis loomed, frantic efforts to save the US from economic collapse happened in secret. VICE News explores the untold stories of powerful people leading the way.As the 2008 financial crisis loomed, frantic efforts to save the US from economic collapse happened in secret. VICE News explores the untold stories of powerful people leading the way.
- Awards
- 1 win
Photos
Gary Ackerman
- Self - US Representative from New York (D)
- (archive footage)
Jill Biden
- Self - Wife of Joe Biden
- (archive footage)
Joe Biden
- Self - US Vice President
- (archive footage)
Lloyd Blankfein
- Self - CEO, Goldman Sachs
- (archive footage)
John Boehner
- Self - Speaker, US House of Representatives (R)
- (archive footage)
Joshua Bolten
- Self - White House Chief of Staff
- (as Josh Bolten)
Jim Bunning
- Self - US Senator from Kentucky (R)
- (archive footage)
Tom Carper
- Self - US Senator from Delaware (D)
- (archive footage)
Elijah Cummings
- Self - US Representative from Maryland (D)
- (archive footage)
Alistair Darling
- Self - British Chancellor of the Exchequer
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Did you know
- ConnectionsReferences Too Big to Fail (2011)
Featured review
Riveting documentary with all the main players looking back, now a decade later
"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.
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.
helpful•54
- paul-allaer
- Sep 23, 2020
Details
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
What is the Spanish language plot outline for Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis (2018)?
Answer