A missing detail

Rating: 8/10 (31 October 2016)

By way of movie criticism I have little to add. The film is well acted, edited and directed. The script does its best to explain complicated stock market transactions to the average intelligent viewer. I am hardly an expert in the field, but there is one item not emphasized enough in the film. I am a resident of Bronx Count, New York. My job led me to dealt with mortgage foreclosure in the Bronx. The typical victims were somewhat naive people who were first home buyers. (Not all some were just crooks). Unscrupulous mortgage brokers who talk people into over mortgaging their new homes. A strong force encouraging this was the Federal Government. With the goal of increasing "minority" (word "minority" has little meaning in the Bronx where the white population is about 10%). home ownership. FANNYMAE other federally controlled financing vehicles encouraged the banks and mortgage financiers to make very risky loans. In one case I handled a broker got a mortgage for an individual for $200,000.00, which was barely covered by the equity in the home. When the owner had trouble making payments the broker obtained a mortgage for 350.000.00. Wiping out the previous mortgage debt. When that loan was in trouble, he obtained a mortgage for $450,000.00. These loans were actually bought by two major banks and financing was assisted by the Feds. They were bundled by them into a toxic security package. Finally the bubble burst and the loan went into foreclosure, The home turned out to be worth the initial $200,000.00. The point is that the Feds weren't just asleep at the switch, as the movie shows. They actively made the problem worse through their "good intentions".