The Warning

Surprisingly this isn't just another 'great financial crisis' documentary, but it certainly sounds familiar. It's not a look at the early 2000's its a look at the 1990's. Frontline's The Warning focuses on the warning sounds of Brooksley Born, head of the CFTC (Commodities Futures Trading Commission), who took on former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan about his policies and some of the warning signs that a crisis and financial bubble could be on the horizon. Indeed the murky and secretive trillion dollar Over the Counter (OTC) derivatives market drew the attention of Born, who attempted to introduce regulation - which unsurprisingly was strongly opposed by the powers that be (Greenspan, Rubin, Summers, and Wall Street in general). The documentary rings chords in today's attempts at introducing transparency into the OTC derivatives markets, and moving towards Central Counter Parties.

In the devastating aftermath of the economic meltdown, THE WARNING sifts through the ashes for clues about why it happened and examines critical moments when it might have gone much differently. Looking back into the 1990s, FRONTLINE discovers early warnings of the crash and uncovers an intense battle between high-ranking members of the Clinton administration vs. one woman trying to sound the alarm about the need to regulate the emerging, highly complex, and lucrative derivatives markets, which would become the ticking time-bomb within the American economy.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2011/06/warning.html