Search - Frontline: Inside the Meltdown on DVD

Watching a mess being cleaned up

Paul E. Hahn | Fairfax, VA | 05/20/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe it's because I'm a "root cause" person who asks why something happened to begin with, but watching this program was like watching a janitor cleaning up a mess in the cafeteria and blaming the janitor for the mess. By 2007, the damage had already been done with subprime mortgages being created for the last 10 years. Blame whoever you want, but rest assured that it was this feeding frenzy of low no documentation, interest only "creative" loans that broke the mold along with the credit default swaps that created this mess. It was also the reason for the housing bubble, now that the people who became eligible for a mortgage increased. It would have been more interesting to know more about the relationship between Freddie Mac and Barney Franks during the past 10 years. This problem is not over yet and when I hear the government and media saying the people are "entitled" to fair and affordable mortgages, it concerns me."

An absorbing documentary that presents the downfall of multi

Midwest Book Review | Oregon, WI USA | 06/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Inside the Meltdown is an episode of the popular "Frontline" television series, giving the behind-the-scenes stories of the Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers business collapses that kicked off the present day economic crisis, followed by efforts to support insurance giant AIG and a 700 billion dollar bailout. Inside the Meltdown especially focuses upon the sudden, catastrophic dilemma thrust upon Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose fear of "moral hazard" - the concept that bailing out a failing business will only promote and encourage more failure on their part - had to give way to the larger, possibly economy-destroying threat of a resounding ripple effect stemming from the collapse of giants. An absorbing documentary that presents the downfall of multigenerational institutions in plain terms for viewers of all backgrounds, Inside the Meltdown is especially recommended to public library DVD collections. 60 minutes, color.
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Brilliantly informative and understandable for the layman!

VW Guy | USA | 08/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Brilliantly informative and understandable for the layman. This video should be required watching in the high schools and colleges.
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Good, in-depth review

Michael A. Saxton | USA | 05/29/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I always liked the PBS Frontline series as they tend to be less biased than most documentaries, especially when it comes to politics. I remember seeing the announcement on TV by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson stating that if congress didn't immediately pass the bailout bill, the entire economy would crash by Monday.

This video gets into the gory details of the response to the meltdown and why certain things were done and others were not. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, the catalysts that set off the worst economic downturn since the great depression.

If you want a more extensive view of the meltdown, I would recommend watching this in conjunction with FRONTLINE: Ten Trillion and Counting, i.o.u.s.a., and Frontline: The Warning. This combination gives a much bigger picture of the U.S. financial crisis.

Mike Saxton, Author of "7 Scorpions: Rebellion""