Inside Job (2010 film)

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Inside Job is a 2010 American documentary by Charles Ferguson about the 2008 financial crisis. Ferguson began researching in 2008 and argues the crisis happened because of systemic corruption in the financial services industry and conflicts of interest that affected research and policy. The film is divided into five parts and shows how changes in policy and risky banking practices led to the meltdown.

Key ideas the film covers:
- A long period of deregulation in the U.S. financial industry, followed by crises in the 1980s and 1990s.
- The growth of big banks, complex financial instruments, and the spread of risky mortgages.
- How mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) were created and sold, often with misleading rating scores.
- The role of rating agencies, which gave many risky products high ratings.
- The rise of subprime lending and the belief that housing prices would always rise.
- The use of credit default swaps to bet against those bets, increasing risk.

The film also explains the sequence of events in 2007–2008: major firms failed or needed bailouts, including Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, and AIG. The U.S. government launched a large rescue package (TARP), and the global economy slid into deep recession. By the end of 2008, unemployment rose and many people lost their homes. Top executives often kept large bonuses even as their companies failed, while reform efforts were limited.

Inside Job highlights how some academics and economists who once supported deregulation continued to resist strong reforms after the crisis, and it points out conflicts of interest where researchers were paid by parties involved in the financial system.

Reception and impact:
- The film was widely praised by critics for its pace, research, and ability to explain complex topics.
- It won the Best Documentary Feature at the 83rd Academy Awards (2011) and received strong notices at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010.
- Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic gave it very high scores, reflecting broad critical acclaim.
- Some critics, like Barron’s Gene Epstein, argued the film presented an incomplete view by not fully examining the government’s role in the crisis.

Inside Job remains a highly influential look at how the 2008 financial meltdown happened and why reforms in its wake were limited.