Assignment: THE BIG SHORT
1. What changes in the 1970's led up to the 2008 financial crises?
2. What were some of Mark Baum's criticisms of the big banks?
3. What was Michael Burry's discovery?
4. What does it mean to "short"? (HINT: Actress Margot Robbie explained it in the film while drinking champagne and taking a bubble bath).
5. What was the issue or problem with mortgage bonds?
6. Why were people skeptical regarding whether the housing market could crash?
7. How does Jared Vennett explain modern mortgages? (HINT: Jenga).
8. What is a C.D.O? What is Anthony Bourdain's explanation?
9. What does Mark Baum and his team learn when they visit the housing development in Florida and interview the mortgage brokers and the exotic dancer?
10. What are the markers or indicators of a housing bubble?
11. What does Mark Baum and the others learn at the American Securitization Forum in Las Vegas?
12. At the sushi restaurant, what does Mark Baum learn? How does Selena Gomez and Richard Thaler explain the synthetic CDO?
13. On March 8, 2008, what triggers a drop in Bear Sterns stock?
14. What happened in September 2008? (Minimum 200 words).
15. What impact did the 2008 financial collapse have on the American people? (Minimum 200 words).