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Bird and Fortune - Subprime Crisis

kerviel88888 · 1.9M views · 2008-02-14 · 8:50

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Overview

John Bird and John Fortune satirize the investment banking mindset in a mock interview about the subprime mortgage crisis. The sketch lampoons structured credit products and the banks' reassurances shortly before the crash.

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HN points to it as a funny but accurate send-up of banker thinking, noting that comedians grasped the crisis before Lehman collapsed.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2008–2018

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What people said

pdfernhout · 2018-09 · Recommendation

Well, at least comedians seemed to understand the crisis several months before Lehman crashed: "Subprime Banking Mess" [VIDEO] "John Bird and John Fortune (the Long Johns) brilliantly, and accurately, describing the mindset of the investment banking community in this satirical interview."

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ra · 2008-10 · Recommendation

Oohh... This is one of my favourite documentary series of all time. Compulsive viewing. I'm not sure how it exposes anything about the current situation, but it sure underlines what the free-market economy means, how it came about and why it's so important for our lives. One of the underlying messages in the series is that Free markets and Free democracy are intrinsically linked. I'd be really interested to see a 2008 update on this. One that takes into account the new China and Putin's Russia. While China is touched upon in the series - I feel that the author would have many more insights on the impact of China on the rest of the world, today. And Putin's Russia - well here's another piece of fascinating history in the making. One of my favourite sub-plots in the series is the Thatcher story, and the economic reasoning behind the removal of government subsidy for industry. While I was too young to understand it at the time, surely this was one of the greatest feats of leadership in a long time. For something lighthearted and more related to today, see either of the following: The subprime primer: [LINK] And from the BBC comedy department, 'Bird and Fortune' [VIDEO]

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mtgx · 2017-07 · Reference

They started doing the same stuff they did pre-crisis like months later. But first they made sure to pay themselves billions of dollars in bonuses. [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by kerviel88888, played through YouTube.

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