Wall Street, It’s Over
Published in La Tribune
(France) on 14 May 2010
by Philippe Mabille (link to original)
The financial crisis is a novel, and Oliver Stone certainly wouldn’t disagree, since he’s introducing “Wall Street, Money Never Sleeps” — a continuation of the blockbuster released during the crash of… 1987 — at the Cannes Film Festival (Out of Competition). A novel with heroes like Gordon Gekko, whose only moral code consists of “conning” whoever has the bad idea of crossing him. A novel where one also meets upholders of the law like Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General of New York, who, in real life, embarked on a crusade against financial excesses.
The viewer cannot help but applaud the show, which, as in every American film, ends with the defeat of evil and the victory of the good. Yes or no, were forged documents knowingly provided to the rating agencies by virtue of the real estate titles that fed the subprime crisis? Were the financial products conceived only with the goal of speculating on the fall of the financial pyramid that these banks, such as Goldman Sachs, knew was inevitable? This judicial phase of the crisis, which could clear the way for criminal convictions, is a terrible blow to the image of the affected organizations and to the reputation of Wall Street.
Of course, one must be careful to avoid scapegoating. Everyone who bought these toxic products was supposed to know that they were investing in risky instruments. But if they were deceived from the very beginning, if conflicts of interest are demonstrated by the court, then there will be proof that there is something rotten in the kingdom of finance. And the populations of the countries doomed to ten years of austerity by the wrongs of these sorcerer-apprentices will find it difficult to shed a single tear at the end of the film.
The viewer cannot help but applaud the show, which, as in every American film, ends with the defeat of evil and the victory of the good. Yes or no, were forged documents knowingly provided to the rating agencies by virtue of the real estate titles that fed the subprime crisis? Were the financial products conceived only with the goal of speculating on the fall of the financial pyramid that these banks, such as Goldman Sachs, knew was inevitable? This judicial phase of the crisis, which could clear the way for criminal convictions, is a terrible blow to the image of the affected organizations and to the reputation of Wall Street.
Of course, one must be careful to avoid scapegoating. Everyone who bought these toxic products was supposed to know that they were investing in risky instruments. But if they were deceived from the very beginning, if conflicts of interest are demonstrated by the court, then there will be proof that there is something rotten in the kingdom of finance. And the populations of the countries doomed to ten years of austerity by the wrongs of these sorcerer-apprentices will find it difficult to shed a single tear at the end of the film.