RSA - The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

2nd Dec 2010; 13:00

(full recording including audience Q&A)
Please right-click link and choose "Save Link As..." to download audio file onto your computer.

RSA Thursday

As soon as the financial crisis erupted, the finger-pointing began. Should the blame fall on greedy traders, misguided regulators, cowardly legislators, or clueless home buyers?

Bethany McLean, co-author of the The Smartest Guys in the Room, visits the RSA to tell the hidden history of the financial crisis, exploring the motivations of everyone from famous CEOs, cabinet secretaries, and politicians to anonymous lenders, borrowers, analysts, and Wall Street traders.

Her new book All the Devils Are Here exposes the hidden role of companies including AIG, Goldman Sachs, and Fannie Mae, delves into the powerful mythology of homeownership, and proves that the crisis ultimately wasn't about finance at all; it was about human nature.

Speaker: Bethany McLean, columnist for Slate and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and author of The Smartest Guys in the Room (with Peter Elkind) and All the Devils Are Here (with Joe Nocera, Penguin Portfolio 2010)

Chair: Paul Mason, economics editor of the BBC's flagship current affairs program Newsnight

Suggested hashtag for Twitter users: #rsamclean