Middle East: The men who crashed the world's economies

PJ: As the GOP campaigns on the platform of reducing regulations (once again), it is important to know what created the financial crash that threw the US and much of the world into the worst economic recession since the great depression. As millions remain jobless and as others struggle to make ends meets, and as the rich continue to thrive and the very players on Wall Street who caused the crash are raking in millions, the GOP wants to return to the very policies that created the mess in the first place.

Tune in to this Al Jazeera sponsored broadcast--times are listed below.


Al Jazeera

The men who crashed the world
The first of a four-part investigation into a world of greed and recklessness that led to financial collapse.

In the first episode of Meltdown, we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne.

The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the edge of insolvency. Wall Street turned back the clock to 1929.

But how did it all go so wrong?

Lack of government regulation; easy lending in the US housing market meant anyone could qualify for a home loan with no government regulations in place.

Also, London was competing with New York as the banking capital of the world. Gordon Brown, the British finance minister at the time, introduced 'light touch regulation' - giving bankers a free hand in the marketplace.

All this, and with key players making the wrong financial decisions, saw the world's biggest financial collapse.

Meltdown is a four-part investigation that takes a closer look at the people who brought down the financial world. It can be seen on Al Jazeera English from Tuesday, September 20, at the following times GMT: Tuesday: 2000; Wednesday: 1200; Thursday: 0100; Friday: 0600; Saturday: 2000; Sunday: 1200; Monday: 0100; Tuesday: 0600.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/meltdown/2011/09/2011914105518615434.html