'The Big Short' Writer On Why The Bank Bailout Was A Mistake

Michael Lewis explains why Ben Bernanke and Hillary Clinton were wrong to bail out the banks.

Watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert weeknights at 11:35 PM ET/10:35 PM CT. Only on CBS.

[Smudgie]

Banks don`t want government restrictions but will run to government for publich money to cover losses.
Debt is socialised, profit is privatised.

[darkinstinctful]

02:27 That pen chose the easy way out.

[anthonycruciani]

Great book by a talented guy. Really illustrates how corrupt Wall Street is. Lewis has been shedding light on that since Liars Poker.

[jeffreysalthouse]

When the bailout came what did the banks do? They paid commissions to all of those losing brokers so they could continue making bad investments. And nobody has been punished for any fraud in this business.

[jimjimfrancis]

This may be the best movie for the last ten years. I was very impressed.

[vamos]

The whole conversation prologued up to that pen, falling, rolling and falling... The future's scaray.

[sikky]

I was around my mid 20's when the economy nearly went belly up, I worked at a bank, to me it seemed like common sense to just let it all crumble and not let any bail out take place, the more experienced and seasoned private bankers and investment guys looked at me and laughed, my rationale wasn't so much that the big banks needed to break up, I had more faith in the ppl that the banks would crumble all on its own and it would've been prime opportunity for new ppl to rise and innovation would've created new financial institutions and more creative ways things would work. The crash would have been a nightmare, 10X worst than the depression, not by #'s but by sheer # of ppl being affected vs the depression since the population was nearly 10X bigger meaning the ppl affected in this crisis would've outnumbered the entire us population during the depression, this '08 crash, would have in fact been another depression and would have been far far worst, the politicians didn't want that on their clock, so they did everything in their power to avoid it, hence the bail out, banks were to some degree aware of this. The problem w/everything that happened is that these big banks weren't being negligent or dumb, they were being very careless and knew to some degree the gov't was incompetent enough that if they were scared enough they'd practically give a blank check to make the problem go away. That's what big bank did when they came to gov't, and when the dust somewhat settled, big banks made sure the status quo would not be affected.

If the gov't just let the shit hit the fan, there's no denying the fallout would've been (In relative terms) apocalyptic, but 'til this day, I felt the recovery would've been that much quicker and stronger. If you have a diseased arm, are you going to chop it off cleanly to get it over with, or slap some neosporin hoping the inevitable will miraculously get better.

[davidhutchinson]

Always amazes me in my own nation. Socialism is FINE for billionaires and corporations....tax cuts, subsidies, giveaways but OH NO...for Main Street America? F em right? This guy is 100% on point. Surprised Colbert let him talk.

[markalan]

the next short.... student loans... you're welcome

[mrjoanofarc]

I could listen to a lot more about banks from this guy!!

[sambeawesome]

That pen was having the time of its life, I'm sure. :)

[julescourtine]

the pen slowly rolling off of the desk from 2:28 is really unnerving

[meloncholicbliss]

You should include Michael Lewis in the title. He's done much more than just write The Big Short. I know it's relevant now but he's a celebrity in literature world.

[Angrylittlelouie]

The Banks are a special interest group for politicians. when was the last time the Government letf a bank to fall under? Not even in the great depression. They will bail them out again.

[mmarroquin]

My sister was flipping houses in '05 and I looked at the growth over the years and said this has to be to good to be true.

[freetrailerpoor]

He is right look at the balance sheets. They are not that strong yet paying massive bonuses, buybacks, and dividends. Maybe they should have some equity?

[csx]

How times change! When I was starting out, the complaint against banks was you needed to prove you didn't need the money to borrow it.Then, their only way to get repaid was from the borrower. Now the Federal Government (taxpayers) gets stuck with the bill.

[freaksuyash]

Bernie Sander Bro, what do it next time. Do it now..

[robertsanssouci]

Obviously it was a massive mistake. Them failing was an equalizer for working class folks. But nope, we bailed them out and they gave themselves bonuses

[FrankDBoyce]

Michael Lewis is the man. Go read Flash Boys and Boomerang ASAP!