Inside Job Transcript - Final Version - 9.30.10 - Sony Pictures Classics

Inside Job transcript – Sony Pictures – September 2010 47
{MARCH 16, 2008}
WOMAN REPORTER: In a matter of days, one of the pillars of Wall Street sold to rival –
NARRATOR: In March of 2008, the investment bank Bear Stearns ran out of cash, and
was acquired for two dollars a share by JP Morgan Chase. The deal was backed by 30
billion dollars in emergency guarantees from the Federal Reserve.
{SIMON JOHNSON
PROFESSOR, MIT
FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND}
SIMON JOHNSON: That was the time when the administration could have come in, and
put in place, you know, various kinds of measures that would have reduced system risk.
02:03:11.05
{JULY 10, 2008}
REP. PAUL KANJORSKI (D-PA): The information that I'm receiving from some entities
is the end is not here; that there are other shoes to fall.
HENRY PAULSON: I, I, eh, well, I've seen those investment banks, uh, working with
the, uh, the, the Fed and the SEC to strengthen their liquidity, to strengthen their, uh,
the, the, the, their capital positions.
I get reports all the time. Our re-, our regulators are, are, are very vigilant.
02:03:36.01
NARRATOR: On September 7th, 2008, Henry Paulson announced the federal takeover
of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two giant mortgage lenders on the brink of collapse.
HENRY PAULSON: Nothing about our actions today in any way reflects a changed view
of the housing correction or the strength of other U.S. financial institutions.
02:03:56.02
NARRATOR: Two days later, Lehman Brothers announced record losses of 3.2 billion
dollars, and its stock collapsed.
02:04:03.26