In THE
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
(481 votes)
Loading ...
July 8th, 2009
Watch the two-hour THE
(481 votes) Loading ...
Comments
318 comments
#2
most interesting and informative program I have seen in many moons….thanks PBS.
#3
Very good program! Gives excellent insight into today’s murky world
#4
Wow! Every American should see this. Thank you again PBS for impowerment through education.
#5
Outstanding program! I’m ready to watch it again.
#6
Brilliant! Pure genius! This is television at its educative best! This is a must-see production for every intelligent mind pondering the confusing maze that the world economy has become.
#7
An awesome illustration - the clarity
#8
Intl Funds Transfer Manager 26 yrs. Wall Street-Excellant-PBS Needs to Continue to Inform
#9
This is the best ‘fill in the blank’ program I have ever seen. The combination
#10
One
#11
Excellent. Well done. Everyone who likes
#12
cool
#13
I teach finance and all my students should watch this entertaing explanation
#14
niall,
awesome but scary! i wish this were on network
tv so they could get a better pic
here and the fascinating history
keep up the good work!
sincerely
bill fuenfhausen
#15
Riveting and revealing. Thank you PBS!
#16
Excellent explanations
#17
very nice work, but a little hard to follow on a few details.
#18
Excellent analysis and only on PBS
#19
Wow! What a show - I’m a real dummy when it comes to ‘finances’, but Accent
#20
Play it again! Soon! And what about a DVD?
#21
super
#22
Any structure remotly based on probability will surely fall due to human greed. People who fail to read history are bound to repeat it.
#23
Great stuff, very informative and relevant. Its The Naked Ape
#24
Best discussion
#25
The best documentary about
#26
*Excellent* PBS-TV Presentation - We’re Favorably Impressed.
Dr. Dennis and Joanne Bogdan
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com
http://home.comcast.net/~drbogdan/publications.html
#27
Very interesting and informative. Thank you!
#28
Fascinating! Thank you for this coverage.
#29
The racism
#30
I missed it, i received the book for Xmas, but would very much like to see him tell his story. When would it be possible to see this episode and where?
#31
Markets have a tendency to inflict maximum pain on the maximum number
#32
Outstanding. I can only wish I had this information taught when I was a student in high school.
#33
Is this the whole episode or just parts
#34
Just saw the entire video on local PBS - an excellent work unbelievably done in 2 hours. Dr Ferguson is good!!!
#35
Wow, how illusory is the real world we live in. It should work though if no crooks could get in. Or, would without them?
#36
I’m so glad that PBS made a program on this topic. If there were more documentaries on financial issues like this, Americans might not be so sadly undereducated in financial matters.
#37
If i could bet everytime PBS gets it right, i’d say this is over the top piece by far crushing the need for such giants like CNN, MSNBC or the likes. I am pleased to be called a PBSer!
#38
Pretty good presentation in most respects, but Prof. Ferguson essentially ignores the role
#39
Great show, very enlightening.
#40
Superb content very well presented and easily understood. It sure gives a belated food for thought.
#41
Valuable perspective. Must see for the average American caught up in this current economy.
#42
Great film!
#43
This was such a wonderful program,no entertainment,just the facts.Is it available on DVD,if so how may I obtain a copy? Steve
#44
this is such a good documentary that i can’t explain i only can say i’m african american and have live in gary ind. pontiac mich. flint mich. and detriot mich.i’ve seen alout
#45
Outstanding program … Mr. Ferguson has taken a complex subject and made it understandable, even entertaining. I’ve watched it twice, and sent a link to my family and friends. Kudos.
#46
Impressive show. seems to be no save place to put our
#47
Great program. Informative. Detailed. Excellent.
#48
Niall Ferguson provides first-rate, brief, substantial, and very watchable explanations
#49
Amazing show!
#50
It is great programme
#51
Great program!
When is this on again? Came across it halfway through and want to see the whole thing in HD on TV!
#52
Amazing clarity … finally we see/we are shown the dawn
#53
That show was awsome,I’d recomend it to any one who wants to know what has caused our current problems!!!
#54
A brilliant, insightful look at the inevitable effect
#55
rivetting
#56
This is a brilliant examination
#57
THE BEST PROGRAM I HAVE SEEN ON PBS
I HAVE “IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE”
#58
agreed, very nice work, Thanks!
#59
Absolutely riveting! I learned more about
#60
excellent film
So who will buy the trillions
#61
The
The drift away from viewing value as A global quantificashion
Ps sorry about the spelling I’m typing on a cell phone.
May tecnology save us all, scott
#62
It is too good..Excellent work PBS!
#63
This is one
#64
Excellent
#65
An amazing educational piece on the global system
#66
I so love this documentation that I would like to know how do i get to order it for my library
#67
Informative intro
Niall Ferguson and PBS…Bravo!
#68
It’s time we change how we create
#69
I’m interested in finding out more about
#70
I found the info in this show very interesting, very well done…………
#71
A good addition to your book. The pictures make it much more memorable. Especially liked your ;comments on John Law. First introducedm to me by Alan Sweezy, Econ Prof at Caltech.
#72
Not easy to get any ideas across in two minutes on the Colbert Report. Ferguson succeeded… so I want more!
#73
I really wanted to watch this show but I missed it; will it be broadcasted again later, and when? Thanks.
#74
Thanks for a great presentation. I enjoyed the education.
#75
Absolutely the most lucid explanation
#76
great show - great pacing and video clips
#77
Timely /excellent
#78
two thumbs up!!!!
#79
Saw the last 10 minutes last night but want to see the whole thing
#80
I have read on the suburbia explosion (urbanisation style)after the war but nowhere was the link made to the credit connexion as was in this documentory. Wow!
#81
A very informative film that helps me understand how complex the world financial landscape has become.
#82
Excellent program. Please show this program again.
#83
[...]
#84
Saw this on WETA last night….blew my socks off… Thank you PBS for bringing the info to the people.
#85
PBS you are to be congratulated for the comprehensive analysis
#86
The documentary is absolutely brilliant. Niall Ferguson has put it, quite concisely I may add, into proverbial ‘nutshell’, how the economy became what it was and how it is now and in a certain extent what it will be; it is pure genius.
#87
Leave it to PBS to air such a critical and brilliant program but a single time per channel on a single day without repeat. Christ, they repeat everything liberal, nothing informative. I’m shocked they aired it this time, frankly.
#88
I haven’t had the opportunity to say “WOW” in a very long time about a doc/film. Great job!
#89
Great Presentation
Check out YouTube: THE
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=
AP
#90
[...] in June but PBS asked us to create a shorter version earlier. We raced to cut a two-hour program (watch it online) for broadcast this week. We scrambled, and thanks to Niall’s production team, especially [...]
#91
#92
Each chapter could have been 2 hours long! The best show I’ve seen on the subject yet! What I want to see is the stuff that got left on the editing floor (electronic trash bin).
#93
There are a million ways
This program shows how liberals see
The format is not educational, but sensational and madcap disorganized.
But give it credit, the liberals made an entertaining video.
#94
Extraordinary documentary, and a wonderful contribution to our society.
#95
Terrific! This is why we can count on PBS. I just sent this link to all 126
#96
makes for a basic ,educational, learning for everyone who want to invest in there own future. historically , we need to be reminded what we created.
#97
Must see for anyone who invests. A great supplement would be to read Mandelbrot’s “The (Mis)Behavior
http://alphadominance.com/
#98
Brilliant show. All I could dream
#99
Very fast paced, easy to understand, and explains succinctly (enough to catch up & understand as a whole; not as individual snap shots) the correlated historical precedence to the exposed events & concepts. Kudos to all involved in the film!!!
#100
Wow, what an eye opener! Very Nice
#101
Amazing! What a GREAT program!
This should be shown in classrooms across North America.
#102
Nice documentary, but some essential pieces
Most people don’t even know whether the Fed is a private or public institution!
#103
Well Done. Most informative for the 2 hours available for the whole story. I only wish that sub prime mortgage debacle wasn’t portrayed as the result
#104
Why was the Bush Administration blamed for the sub prime mess when according to the New York Times it was the Clinton Administration that began pressuirng Banks to make the NINJA loans available. The Clinton folks went so far as to threaten fines and other legal actions if banks did not make the loans to unqualifeid buyers as part
A New York Times article, “Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending” (Sept. 30, 1999), reported, “Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest underwriter
#105
Are bonds the next domino to fall? With 85 trillion dollars tied up in the bond market I certainly hope not but one has only to look at Argentina’s spectacular crash in ‘91 to begin to question our own bond markets vunerability.
Over all a very good program but it only begins to explain the complexities
#106
I have read through the comments and agree emphatically that the film was fantastic. I think the stated racial bias was more an attempt to call attention to racial bias in financial dealings than to stereo-type african-americans derogatorily, but I do understand how the presentation
#108
Excellent explanation
#109
#110
While high in production value and entertaining, it falls well short
#111
All high school students and others should watch this program. Very good.
#112
We gave it a plug on our site as well. Thank you for making this possible PBS!
#113
[...]
#114
Where is Fannie and Freddie which was the Democrats piggie bank under the guise
#115
Uber-excellent program series is available in UK in DVD.
Niall Fergusson has a superb intellect and the gift to user-friendly inform the masses. The USA is very lucky to have Prof Ferguson at Harvard, and he needs to be appointed by the new US President as chief economic advisor!
#116
Great program!
Only on PBS can you get the truth
#117
We rely on the Chinese for cash and upon the Brits for intelligent TV.
If we depend exclusively on dollars our economy will strangle. Community currencies can fill the gaps: ithacahours.com
#118
Niall does a excellant job
#119
I must admit that I am woefully lacking in knowledge about the stock market, commodities, bonds and international lending. This program which Mr. Ferguson has created was presented in a way even I could follow and understand, I am amazed at what I had been missing with regards to my
#120
Great documentary!!!!!
#121
The general public needs an occasional philosopical and historical perspective on economics (
#122
I did enjoy the film yet believe it’s important to appreciate that every historian and economist draws their own unique conclusions to a set
#123
This is a great contribution to the education
#124
The best doc. on how the economy works and its history that I have ever seen. It makes the insanely complex system in simple terms that all can understand.
#125
Thanks for the incredible eye opening information you provided. I cannot wait for the next story you do on this subject. Keep up the great work and research!
#126
Outstanding series. Should be a must watch for educational curriculums
#127
Brilliant!
#128
Thank you for this wonderful documentary! I finally understand the Enron debacle. I’ll watch this again on-line…thank you PBS for airing this outstanding film!
#129
Breakthrough work by Niall and the production crew. Very informative, and really helped clarify some
#130
That was an outstanding program!!! I have to watch this program again to absorb more
#131
Excellent understandable
#132
This is a magnificent program. Instead
#133
Wonderful presentation. Would like to see it again, and also have others see it too. When might you be rerunning this?
#134
Ron Paul was right
#135
Started watching the program last evening on TV but got called away.
Thought I’d watch the remainder
Seems to me that if I have paid my satellite provider to have PBS in my package we would I be restricted from watching a PBS program for the US.
Oh well… it’s not like I can’t point to a FREE US proxy server and watch the program anyway. My point is why do broadcasters like PBS claim to be “public” television when in actuality they are totaled controlled by the private interests
The blocking
#136
Missing facts from your documentary: The changes made to the “Community Reinvestment Act” (CRA)in 1995 & 1999 and signed by President Bill Clinton was one
#137
[...] I’ll watch that show, Momma. Promise!! « [...]
#138
This was an amazing program and left me depresses. Seems the US keeps on coming up with plan after plan to defraud the investor and keep the
This show is worth sharing. Is there any way to get a copy
#139
We saw some
#140
We need a new economic system.
#141
I liked the show and learned some things, but visually it was annoying to see the same shots used repeatedly and sometimes in a confusing way. When Ken Burns repeats an image, it can be argued that the Civil War is over so his choices are limited. There are a billion people in China, why did we have to see the same shot
#142
As long as people continue to play the roles
#143
WTVS Detroit wants Canadian donors and actively begs for
#144
This is the most over dramatic piece
#145
There are a thousand ways to look at anything.
This program is about how liberals look at
The slick production is aimed at the short concentrations span viewer. I’m sure that’s good for ratings.
George Soros appears in the program as a credible interviewee without any introduction to warn the viewer
#146
go to google video and watch the
#147
I went to the Grocery store to buy my favorite pig out food, “chicken strips and Broasted potatoes.” I rushed back home to watch this program. I was itching all day to watch it. IT DID NOT SHOW HERE IN CHICAGO!!!!!! I’M LIVID! WTTW Chicago - had this program on it schedule and showed some goffy, mind-numbing program. This happens OFTEN here in Censored-heavy Chicago.
#148
Outstanding. Please rebroadcast ASAP. When the word gets out, this will be a viral phenom.
#149
unbelieveable program, thanks pbs, i would donate for this type
#150
Mesmerizing - a complex subject explained so well and interesting.
#151
PBS and Prof. Ferguson - Great Work! Thanks for helping me understand what went wrong and how we got here.
#152
A most intelligent and well-produced documentary that presented a grand historical overview and up to the minute analysis
#153
Very interesting and educational program. I would like to have seen an additional and very important piece
Also, since the movie discussed impacts
I will be watching this again to more fully understand the contents, especially the information on the all-important Derivatives.
I look forward with great anticipation to a Part-II
Excellent show not only explaining financials but also clarifying Global market relationships very well.
Thank you. I look forward to Part II.
#154
I wanted to like this, I am reading the book, and interested in economic and what is going on with the global economy. I don’t think this movie has anything to offer but niall ferguson from harvard as a celebrity. how can ferguson really rip into what is going in or how to fix it, or where “
The ideas were so rapidfire and the video so full
After reading most
Being an old fogey I remember when all
#155
Niall & PBS
Your programme was fantastic, even though was only able to take in a fraction
Did you know that the Bible has two creation stories, and in the first G-d creates man and woman at the same time. It is the second, version presumably later insertion, that has Eve made from Adam’s rib. Use
The formula that you drew on the board was truly impresssive. But so was the failure
Isn’t is time to build a new economic machine that does not allow these games:
Global economy = $47T per year
Derivatives market = $476T per year
(Did I get the figures right?)
Time for productive work; build green infrastructure that reaches every child, no matter where they happen to be born. Protect, Educate and Heal them. Prevent better than heal. What do you think?
How to make this happen, is not a question. it is a necessity.
Interesting to note the comments. nearly all positive, s few quibblers, and some in the same river (the Nile) as Bush and Cheney, who think they really did something good, by making incompetence a high art. We need good, high quality government.
I like the idea
Again, many thanks for a great programme. And for your passion.
Oz
#156
[...] Daily Documentary Watch full program: THE
#157
[...]
#158
[...] The
#159
When will the program, The
#160
What a great explanation
#161
Absolutely fascinating! I love PBS!!!
#162
Great show: concise, thorough!
#163
I love the book and I love watching this documentary. But to say that “that financial history is the essential back-story behind all history” … is a bit bias no? I mean this guy is an economic/finance historian … naturally he would gravitate towards that conclusion. Anyway, still awesome.
#164
Fantastic must see again in slow motion
#165
Excellent review
#166
a pleasure to watch this no spin, and non media hyped view
#168
While Niall Ferguson’s show was entertaining, and somewhat explained our current financial situation, I found his historical stories were incredibly shallow. The biggest hole was his lack
#169
What was interesting is there’s a belief that the sub-prime mortgages caused a world-wide market crash. This program clearly demonstrates that was one small pillar in a whole house
#170
Amazing documentary. I was truly impressed with the thoroughness
#171
Extremely well organized fundamentals and history
#172
Excellent program — Kudos to Niall Ferguson, PBS and all other involved in its production and airing. Leads me to think that because
#173
Excellent documentary the history
#174
Excellent!!! I have shown this to my High school seniors to give them a better understanding
#175
I have never seen or read anything that so clearly explains the global economic system, its history, and the roots
#176
Thank you PBS!
#177
The show completely grabs your attention and brings a world wide phenomenon into a perspective that is easily understood. With unique subjects and examples, they contribute to enrich an already financially entertaining biography
#178
Kudos!!! Keep uplifting the plight
#179
Viewing “The
our financial syster is that it is driven by profit (greed) and it needs rigid policing if it is to function at all. Jews and Blacks need not be implicated in the current mess.
Viewing the aascent
#180
The only criticism I have is that you took the medieval viewpoint
#181
ABSOLUTLEY BRILLIANT. WE MUST LEARN FROM HISTORY. TOO MANY ECONOMISTS DONT. PLEASE SHOW THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN. I NEED TO SEE IT AGAIN PLEASE BUTIT IS NOT SHOWING FOR NEXT TWO WEEKS. WHEN CAN I SEE IT ON CHANNEL 13.???AGAIN.
#182
[...] Niall Ferguson Niall Ferguson is an economist, historian, and best-selling author, and will discuss the meaning
#183
An outstanding report on one
#184
What a load
#185
I liked the bit about currency, lending and trust. I think a more appropriate historical event
#186
Simply, superb, facinating! Timely, relevant, and critically informative, this program is a “must see” 101 in economics. I need to experience it again and again to ensure every single knowledge detail is indeliby imprinted in my brain. Thank you, Niall!
#187
Thanks PBS and Niall Ferguson for an excellent program and more so for making available to viewers in the internet. “Way to go”!
#188
You certainly gave us a lot
#189
I found the ‘
#190
How come we always have to learn this stuff from British people? Not that I mind, just wondered. Good show, very informative.
#191
I watched the program twice and I must say that it was nothing short
#192
A fine effort, but what about 5,000 years
#193
Usery is no longer a criminal enterprise in this country. It has become common business practice over the passed forty years under the disguise
#194
Magnificent, and should be taught in school from kindergarden age & throughtout college, not to mention the church, we are all humanbeing & needed to be empowered with the reality
#195
[...] Author, economist and historian Niall Ferguson traces the evolution
#196
I’m teaching a unit on Math and Social Justice in my Problem Solving class right now. On Tuesday we learned about the topic
#197
This is a good show and should be mandatory viewing for all. If you bother to read a few books and get your information and news outside
#198
WOW! This was one
#199
Great work!
The discussion
#200
Magnifico! - Bravo! Grazie Mr.Feguson..
Your film was the 1st ever documentary that bore naked the historical and current ways
For the 1st time in my life you made me understand the simplicity and complexity
I could not take myself away from your direct -honest and human perspective
I am a painter artist,-you painted with words and numbers the equivelant
#201
The head
#202
Great work, did not leave my chair for the entire film
#203
China owns this country economically. The United States has tried to get China to adjust thier currency brcause it doesnt reflect the true value. Who in this country is getting wealthy from this relationship
#204
Amazing! We use it everyday, base our lives on it, but have NO idea how it works.
#205
This was an absolute extraordinary effort by Mr. Naill and the other members
We should embrace the historic experiences in order to experience a better future. Please continue to advertise and broadcast the program during the next months nationwide.
#206
Last month I was standing in exactly the same spot in Hong Kong as Prof. Ferguson in the film and was looking around and thinking much the same thing - “Recession? What recession?” The level
He also pointed out that Chongqing, now with more than 30 million people, is not only the financial capital
The salient idea presented quite correctly by Prof. Ferguson is that the Chinese, despite their comparatively low salaries, are notorious savers and Americans, despite their means, are notorious spenders. Their banks are (or were) stocked with cash. Much
The only way to address and correct this inequity, at least from a North American perspective (the Chinese have huge problems
We all love PBS. But how many damn 47” LCD TVs do we need in our houses to watch a single program?
#207
Very good program. Thanks!
#208
I have been unable to see the whole picture
#209
[...]
#210
The topic presentation was excellent. Huge question was ignored. George Soros was presented as a hero / benefactor
#211
PBS did it again, this is a great educational program. It makes me wonder, while people in China concentrate on saving we promote spending; While students in other countries concentrate on math and science we focus on “Intelligent Design”. Are we on the wrong path?
#212
This series should be a “REQUIREMENT” for every American—even as a condition to our ongoing citizenship right. Obama, I sure as hell hope you have studied this PBS programming!
#213
That girl coming out
LL
#214
I viewed this twice. Excellent work and simply amazing. I enjoyed the historical aspect behind the depression in Detroit. I grew up in Detroit and Dearborn.My grandparents worked at the Ford River Rouge plant. And I used to see the Diego Rivera Mural in the Detroit Inst.
#215
THANK YOU FOR SUCH A NICE PROGRAM! It is easy to follow yet I felt like I’ve learnt a whole class’ worth
#216
1-17-09
I was watching a movie on PBS and the
Thank you for airing this program; everyone, particularly the younger generations should see it.
#217
What a fantastic program! It fully explains in the most basic, understandable terms the full financial picture
Sandra B. Finney
Atlanta, Georgia
#218
The world media wants to believe our economic woes are sourced from bankrupt American citizens and the sub-prime mortgage crisis. It is the financial elite who are media puppeteers funding programs like this because they want to steer our attention away from the real issue. Something likened to a magicians hat and cane trick. Powerful economic forces want us to focus on sub-prime mortgages and ignore that over the last three decades American jobs have been outsourced to all corners
#219
The program was entertaining, but many claims made were misleading at best and many statements and claims were simply false. For example, the statment that “the Chinese savers financed the USA’s current account deficit” is hogwash. I ask you: how many Yuan a year does the US government spend? The answer: zero. This is what really happens: The USA has a horrendous trade deficit with China, due only to China’s 7 yuan to the dollar peg. The exchange rate makes imports extremely expensive (to China) and exports cheap. Chinese companies make profits in US Dollars from their exports. They can’t spend US dollars in China, so they go to the Chinese central banks, and “convert” some (most)
There are many other claims and statements that are on weak grounds, misleading or false too. I expected more from PBS.
#220
The Producer/Narrator started losing credibility early on when it was apparent that he didn’t know who the president
I guess a Brit PhD didn’t know that Bush was elected in 2000 and assumed the presidency in Jan 2001 or was it his European prejudice?. Enron was going downhill by the time he took office.
It was sort
#221
What was not addressed is the role
#222
Great program.
#223
Please play this every day for a year so that we may learn to avoid some
#224
An eyeopening encounter with the world
I look forward to more PBS presentations in this vein. Perhaps the Commoddity Futures Act
#225
Really worthwhile. Well presented overview
#226
PBS thank you. Just like in 2000 old NOVA special ‘Trillion Dollar Bet’ about the creation
#227
Good Program, I just hope and pray we can recover this meltdown. After watching, I confirmed that the laws that were in place prior to Enron, that were removed as “Modernization”, “De-regulation” and “get the government off our backs” were the root cause to this meltdown. The present crop
I am not sure what I can do, but I hope everyone in Washington watches this program.
#228
Outstanding program. And the book is excellent as well. Thanks!!!
%
01/13/2009 :: 09:24:43 PM
Chris Pratt Says:
Good work PBS