The Flaw

Only 2 reviews for this remarkable film? I leave the spoiler box unchecked, but really, the film is a "spoiler" since it refers to the most recent crash, a veritable implosion of the global economy based partially on mortgage backed securities.

The film is British, so at the very least we have a fine mix of American and British academics in economics giving slightly different, but converging approaches to what happened.

I've seen a number of films on the crash (fictional and documentary), and this one is by far the best. The film is technical at times, but this is necessary. Nowadays, many of the actors involved in the financial sector are "financial engineers." The days of simplicity are long gone. It's all algorithms and computers now.

The film strikes a perfect balance between archival footage, expert discussion, and interviews with "real people" who were caught up in the real estate binge. And not all of those who bought houses were speculators, some just wanted a decent place to live, and maybe to use that decent place to consolidate debts.

The title "The Flaw" seems to have come from testimony given by Greenspan who referred to a flaw in his own ideology. The irony of this Randian admitting a problem with his ideology should not be taken for granted.

I walked away from this film wanting to watch it again. I hope more people will watch this film. This is not some kind of anti-capitalist diatribe. Instead the film methodically and subtly point out something we all know intuitively; capitalism as it presently functions cannot be sustained.

There are no simple answers. Only some terrifying questions. And by the way, nothing was solved by the bailouts that wasn't short term. Nothing.

This is Communist propaganda. It omits so many of the actual catalysts for the 2008 collapse.

I would not recommend watching this program. Watch The Big Short instead. Far more accurate and educational.

A rather mild and weak explanation of the way people were duped before the 2008 crash and the sheer uncaring criminality of the suffering caused to many ordinary people who lost their homes, jobs and much more. For a more robust examination of and explanation of what went on, watch The Big Short instead, it's more entertaining and enlightening.

The Flaw delivers the story of the causes of the financial crisis and what may have caused it. There is bias in this documentary but it isn't as overt as most documentaries. The great thing and the reason why I believe that everyone should watch this movie is that this documentary delivers a the information of the financial crisis in a format that is easy to digest and gives great visual representation of everything that lead up to the collapse. The flaw of The Flaw is that there are some stories and story lines that are personal to one or two people instead of a whole audience. These stories, in my opinion, are David Sington's attempt to elicit an emotional connection and reaction to what happened with the financial collapse. This makes the documentary feel more personal and allows the viewer to feel more connected to the issues. That said, that is part of what I am not a huge fan of with these types of documentaries. I personally would have rather just had the information and the graphs and charts showing what happened without the personal stories so that the movie wouldn't feel so biased. This is a good documentary that is a scant 78 minutes, has good information and is easy to get through.

So many "documentaries" keep being made about a very simple fact.

Banks lied for their own greed. The "economists" who lied who CAME from the banks lied to keep up the greed. The government who was filled with the economists who came from the banks lied to keep up the greed.

In the end, the public was sold the BS that every house and every "homeowner" was "entitled" to have a house.

The simple fact and instead of making more of these dumb documentaries that can be summed up in one sentence:

If you can't afford a house because you can't afford the mortgage, don't believe the banks that you can.

The stupidity of the mortgage-back crisis was that the banks and the institutions couldn't keep the sham up longer.

People need to take some responsibility for their willingness to believe that they "deserved" a house.

Greenspan and the rest of his ilk are a bunch of crooks.

Economic "theory" is not really a theory when it's based on greed and keeping the banks propped up.