I highly recommend a movie to be released next year (that is, the year that begins next week). Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame, is one of the key developers of the film. It is on the Global Financial Crisis, but also provides a quick history of bubbles and crashes. It is highly entertaining and as good as any that I\u2019ve seen on the crisis.<\/p>\n
The movie features Hyman P. Minsky as well as J. K. Galbraith, who appear as life-sized puppets. One of Terry\u2019s crew told me they brought Minsky over from England on a plane as a fare-paying customer. I would have loved to have seen the look on the faces of the flight attendants. I hope they bought him a beer.<\/p>\n
Originally they were to film Minsky in his office at the Levy Institute, but when they saw pictures of it they said that there\u2019s no way such a big and important\u00a0economist could have had such an inauspicious\u00a0office (albeit in beautiful Blithewood<\/a> overlooking the Hudson). So they used a nice library down in Manhattan.<\/p>\n As Terry puts it,\u00a0\u201dI wanted to be part of this project as soon as I discovered economics students are taught crashes just don\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the blurb on the purpose of the project:<\/p>\n In revealing the truth about our unstable economic system, the film acts as the starting point for global project BoomBustClick.com \u2013 to get the world talking about change through education. A central hub for information, news and ideas, BoomBustClick is an online resource for everyone \u2013 can we change an unstable economic system? Can we adapt economics to human nature?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Terry interviewed me for the film. He\u2019s as funny as you\u2019d expect, but also deeply engaged and knowledgeable. Most of my interview ended up on the cutting room floor, but some bits survived.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also enjoy interviews with Steve Keen and Jamie Galbraith. Minsky\u2019s son, Alan, is a natural before the camera. The actor John Cusack makes some memorable comments. Steve Kinsella and John Cassidy are good. My friend Zvi\u00a0Bodie (best name in economics)\u00a0is featured, as is Paul Krugman. The UK\u2019s Andy Haldane\u2013one of the regulators\u2013does a bit of mea culpa for the profession\u2019s failure to \u201csee it coming.\u201d<\/p>\n As an added bonus, the film has some catchy tunes that you won\u2019t be able to get out of your head<\/p>\n