Erwin Wagenhofer has crafted a
momentous and chilling work of reportage in this documentary that maps
and analyzes the contemporary global financial system.
Shuttled
around the world in private limousines and welcomed to corporate
offices atop gleaming towers, we are treated to a litany of explanations
by people close to the action, outlining how the financial world works
and where it stands. It is unsurprising for many to learn that
capitalism is ruthless.
More alarming is the degree to which the
financial (ad)ventures of an unaccountable and often-invisible few are
facilitated by public policies and monies and arcane schemes that drain
vast quantities of wealth away from civilizations into private hands. In
settings ranging from India to Austria, from Burkina Faso to
Washington, D.C., the legacies of decades of relaxed credit,
deregulation of markets, and privatization of public facilities are
illustrated by concrete examples so bizarre, outsized, and chilling that
you'd expect to find them in a science-fiction movie rather than a
documentary.
The testimonies of economic theorists, proponents
of offshore tax havens, and even one ""economic hit man"" combine to
create a portrait of high stakes and shortsightedness, with war, mass
migration, and ecological disaster as only a few of the downsides.Viewed
in such volatile economic times as these, this prescient, shocking, and
expertly crafted primer will spark many urgent debates.
