Pt. 5 America’s Bankrupt Banks (Inside the Meltdown)
On Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, the astonished leadership of the US Congress was told in a private session by the chairman of the Federal Reserve that the American economy was in grave danger of a complete meltdown within a matter of days. “There was literally a pause in that room where the oxygen left,” says Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). As the housing bubble burst and trillions of dollars’ worth of toxic mortgages began to go bad in 2007, fear spread through the massive firms that form the heart of Wall Street. By the spring of 2008, burdened by billions of dollars of bad mortgages, the investment bank Bear Stearns was the subject of rumors that it would soon fail. “Rumors are such that they can just plain put you out of business,” Bear Stearns’ former CEO Alan “Ace” Greenberg tells FRONTLINE. The company’s stock had dropped from 1 to a share, and it was hours from declaring bankruptcy. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acted. “It was clear that this had to be contained. There was no doubt in his mind,” says Bernanke’s colleague, economist Mark Gertler. Bernanke, a former economics professor from Princeton, specialized in studying the Great Depression. “He more than anybody else appreciated what would happen if it got out of control,” Gertler explains. To stabilize the markets, Bernanke engineered a shotgun marriage between Bear Sterns and the commercial bank JPMorgan, with a promise that the federal government would use billion to cover Bear Stearns …
Video Rating: 4 / 5
On Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, the astonished leadership of the US Congress was told in a private session by the chairman of the Federal Reserve that the American economy was in grave danger of a complete meltdown within a matter of days. “There was literally a pause in that room where the oxygen left,” says Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). As the housing bubble burst and trillions of dollars’ worth of toxic mortgages began to go bad in 2007, fear spread through the massive firms that form the heart of Wall Street. By the spring of 2008, burdened by billions of dollars of bad mortgages, the investment bank Bear Stearns was the subject of rumors that it would soon fail. “Rumors are such that they can just plain put you out of business,” Bear Stearns’ former CEO Alan “Ace” Greenberg tells FRONTLINE. The company’s stock had dropped from 1 to a share, and it was hours from declaring bankruptcy. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acted. “It was clear that this had to be contained. There was no doubt in his mind,” says Bernanke’s colleague, economist Mark Gertler. Bernanke, a former economics professor from Princeton, specialized in studying the Great Depression. “He more than anybody else appreciated what would happen if it got out of control,” Gertler explains. To stabilize the markets, Bernanke engineered a shotgun marriage between Bear Sterns and the commercial bank JPMorgan, with a promise that the federal government would use billion to cover Bear Stearns …
Video Rating: 4 / 5
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Frank and Dodd of all people, show their faces on this? They have huge ones. The Reps in Congress were the bad guys? Not the dem legislators and presidents that pushed NINJAs to low/no income because they were TOLD they must? Look for the Dems on Fannie and Freddie when reps warned them about this happening. I’m still waiting on the documentary on Carter, Glass-Steagall/Clinton/Cuomo/HUD history. Bush, Paulson, Bernanke and Obama’s ex-Fan/Fred/GS campaign comm./buds/staff should be in jail.
If they had not passed the bailout there would have been a global crash……the market would not have taken care of itself.
The Free Market should have taken care of itself…..instead of government fucking it up more
Qe1 failed qe2 failed so qe3? Ben bernanke needs to go look up the defination of insanity. Serious how is this guy running the shots. Good luck america yous are going to need it.
@kaptainkal let them all fail go through the rough, what they have done as just delayed the problem and now its going to be even worse.
sad day? and what alternative would you suggest? it wasn’t perfect but it was necessary
i wanna see this movie again in web movie tube
Bankruptcy laws protect them. The Corporate lobbyists, The banking – Wall street lobbyists have been greasing the wheels of congress for years. The mind set of the American establishment is the capitalist system. All these bankers are seen as the captains of industry and the people who create wealth. To jail them would be seen as a betrayal of the capitalist system. Where does the buck stop. Politicians deregulated the market at the behest of the Banking lobby. The system is rigged that way.
@boscoesarmy Why are they not in prison or even sent to trial?
Kill 666 buy .999
@19fluid75 Low interest rates imposed by the federal reserve after 9/11 caused a housing bubble. The deregulation of the markets lend to a massive exposure for all involved when the morgage defaults started happening. It was the perfect economic storm and was man made by greedy bankers and an irresponsible government. The fact remains that Paulson and Bernake had No option but to bail them out because the entire economic system would have collapsed. The people who caused it should be jailed.
@19fluid75 So what do you assume would have happened if they had not passed the bailout? The market was at a precipice. I hope you are not one of these new world order conspiracy theorists? Explain to me please what happened?
@boscoesarmy Your assumptions are those of someone who clearly does not understand what happened.
@19fluid75 If they hadn’t passed the bail out there would have been a complete economic collapse that would have been 10 greater then the great depression. There would have been a complete run on the banks which would have had to close it’s doors. Blind panic would then issue with a run on supermarkets food and gas stations for gasoline. Riots and anarchy would have broken out and then the world economy would have followed. They had NO option.
The only time we should care what Frank, Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, et al think is at their trials.
9:31
$125 Billion Dollars!!!!!!
I wonder what country or family wanted America to fall so bad?I wonder why none of our government has tired anyone for treason especially the Bush and Clinton families.Who is America supposed to vote for in 2012?I feel I have no one to trust with our country.All of this is sad because now all the American people have to pay all this money back and they have ran to some other country.It dose not seem fair to American people.America needs a true audit in our finances.
@princeofswine lol, right……..If you know so much how come you’re not rich?
I have watch this movie in HQ for FREE at videoweed^es^tc/Contagion-2011-TS-XViD-ILLUMINATI^html (Replace ^ with dot)
@Jsledge85 send me your email I’ll send you some links,
@princeofswine Rothschilf owns the gold exchange in london,bankrolled Rhodes to open south africa now own most mining interests,own steel companies,owns railways,bank rolls suros pension fund guy,owns or controls 269 app banks in the worls,owns most media companies,reuters.washinton post,cnn,cbs,owns Murdoh.OWNS the biggest oil company in the world,opened a bank in Lybia for the rebels?owned pp morgan before he died it goes on and on and on.Controls fed reserve ,300 yrs of Rothchild.??????
@Jsledge85
LW=tsil&iiwdeef=erutaef&sh0xyac1XJ=v?HCTAW/MOC.
REVERSE THIS LINK AND PUT ON YOUTUBE
OR PUT THREE W’s infount of it
you tube wont let me post a link on here
@Jsledge85 (Do your reserch),they own the fed and are putting the USA in as much debt as possible to control it and earning from it,their doing a bloody good job,if they get rid of the fed they can print money without interest and clear their debt in the short terms.Rothschild owns or controls much of the central banks in most countries look at their historyI have been following them for years their power and influence is unimaginable.With them around countries will always be in their debt
@princeofswine While its a fact that the Rothschilds influenced on the bond market in Europe and North America in the nineteenth century, the idea that they single-handedly are behind this recession is the most idiotic conspiracy theory imaginable. Financial collapses are so complicated that they confound mathmaticians, so many variables are at play that one simply can not point to a single actor unless you have the IQ of two yr. old. The rest of the world doesn’t walk around with tin hats.
Your problem is the Rothschild their coming after your country ,research Rothschild youtube. 99% of people do not know they exist the jewish money lenders are the worlds problem they are undermining countries economies,and earning interest on loans to waring countries.They do not give a damm for anyone except the family bisiness,they own 3/4 of the worlds assets,THEY WANT AMERICA IN THEIR CONTROL and that day is near approaching
Bush w.
He can be any character he would like to choose to be. Everywhere he will be the same.
this ws all created first deregulate then put the companys that they wanted to buy or take out filled with toxic waste they created then buy them and desroy them cheap for almost nothing by the way jp goldman and fed are owned by the rotschilds they did the same in the london stockin 1799 london stock when they lied about the result of war with napoleon and bought the stock that falled for pennys on the pound this is what they do dont u found strange that goldman jp didnt had toxic waste
Amazing that the larger issues, the fact that this appears engineered, the impact on millions of Americans, and millions of other people abroad. It’s all just about the company’s bottom line, it doesn’t matter if we have people starving in the streets, so long as Wallstreet is looking up.
0:56 *Ahem* Bullshit
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