too big to hbo

hbo premiered "too big to fail" last night.  the film was based on andrew ross sorkin's novel of the same title. 

when it was over, i was somehow disappointed and exhilarated. 

back story:  i rented the audio book from the library and listened whilst running (for some odd reason i can't just "read" nonfiction anymore); however, i accidentally heard the first two hours under my ipod's shuffle setting.  william hughes, the narrator, was so compelling that i thought sorkin just had an interesting writing style.  needless to say, i only made it to about chapter five before i had to return the audio book to the library.

i was disappointed that the time i invested in the novel was over in the first six minutes of the film.  i enjoyed dick fuld's background and i found erin callan's story particularly intriguing.  i obviously did not get very far in the book, but there was a lot of detail, emotion, and juicy gossip that just didn't have time for portrayal in the movie. 

i did enjoy the humor, timeline, and questions poised throughout the film.  i also forgot about how john mccain suspended his campaign to return to washington during the crisis - so thanks for reminding me.  overall, the cast was great.  evan handler as lloyld blankfein was my favorite, but ayad akhtar's version of neel kashkari was lukewarm.

the purpose of the novel was to humanize the 2008 financial crisis.  the film did so, but failed to meet its potential, seemingly more focused on the logistical lessons learned from the immediate events which led to and the ultimate passage of the troubled assets relief program.  i believe, on content, sorkin's work would have thrived as a miniseries - but i don't think it would've generated a great enough audience to merit that length.

the film didn't have the personal emotional gravitas that i was expecting - but it did make those historic events accessible to outsiders who would not have necessarily read the book.  for more insight, i would highly recommend watching this 20-minute video:

and at the end of the day, the film did make me want to re-checkout the audio book from the library.

tim geithner - my first secretarial moment

during the winter of 2009-2010, i had the opportunity to ask tim geithner (tfg) a question.  i've had many opportunities since, but this was when the unemployment rate was at 9.7%, the dodd-frank bill was proposed, and tfg himself recently extended the troubled asset relief program until the end of 2010. 

i was unaware that we could ask him questions and hadn't brainstormed anything.  glistening profusely (because girls don't sweat), i stood up and nervously caught tfg's eye.  unlike my colleagues, i didn't ask about new derivatives rules, the housing market, or ken feinberg's role as executive compensation special master.  i asked the first thing that popped into my head:

"what are your thoughts on the speculation that the dollar may not be the "go-to" currency anymore?"

i sat down quickly and maintained eye contact.  at first, the only thing i heard was the voice inside my head saying "omg! omg! omg! i just asked the treasury secretary a question! i didn't mess it up or sound like an idiot!"

tfg stepped back, thought about it, and then spent a longer time answering my question than he spent speaking to our group.  after i calmed down and was receptive to the moment, i could literally visualize his thought process - it was like watching economics students walk through is/lm/ad/as curves on a whiteboard in the library. but tfg knew his content and it was fascinating watching him talk us through the analytical framework behind his answer. although it was difficult to understand through some mumbling, in short, he explained that once the u.s. got its debt and spending under control, the speculation will cease and "the dollar will be fine - the united states will be just fine".


afterwards, one of my colleagues patted me on the back and said "'atta girl - he didn't have prepared remarks for your question - way to throw him a curveball".

source: econmodel.net