BankThink

'Too Big to Fail' Is Only a Movie. Unfortunately, TBTF Isn't

By Barbara A. Rehm May 24, 2011, 9:04 a.m. EDT 1 Min Read

The movie version of Andrew Ross Sorkin's "Too Big To Fail" aired Monday night on HBO. Overall, the fast-paced movie portrays the government players as hard-working, caring people who never saw disaster coming.

Their four biggest failures: not lining up British approval of Barclays' deal for Lehman; nearly announcing Lehman's bankruptcy without telling Lehman; having no idea AIG was in deep trouble; and not realizing that using Tarp to buy lousy assets would have such a long lead time that it wouldn't stabilize markets.

Here's how the major players came off. Remember, it's just a movie:

Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson: tough, determined, diligent.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: professorial, reasonable, a touch goofy
Former NY Fed president/current Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: blunt, restless.
Former SEC Chairman Chris Cox: scared, clueless.
Lehman Bros Dick Fuld: delusional
Merrill Lynch's John Thain: selfish
JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon: problem-solver
Goldman Sach's Lloyd Blankfein: skeptical
Morgan Stanley's John Mack: independent
Citigroup's Vikram Pandit: arrogant
Investor Warren Buffett: reluctant, savvy dealmaker

Did you watch? Were your impressions the same? How close to reality do you think the movie is?

Barbara A. Rehm

Editor at Large, American Banker

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