Question

1a Please can i have a thorough summary on the film

The Big Short

b, Also, need a paragraph about each of the main characters and an analysis of the major ethics issues presented in the film, including application of a couple of ethic theories

Answer 1

Answer a

'The Big Short' Summary

The Big Short directed by Adam McKay, is an adoption of the author Michael Lewis’s book 'The Big Short'. It shows the lives of various American financial professionals who made a profit from the raise and subsequent fall of the housing and credit bubble in 2007 and 2008. The Big Short not only speaks about the various events that led to the financial bubble but also about the morality of the financial professionals who not only were a part of it but also foresaw the financial bubble in advance. There are three story lines. The story starts with the hedge fund manager Micheal Burry, who notices that the housing market in the United States is very unstable where more than half the people have subprime loans which are high-risk loans. He predicts that the bubble will burst by 2008 and he comes up with a short-selling investment strategy which catches the attention of stockbroker Jared Vennett and traumatized hedge fund manager Mark Baum. The second story line starts with the last two people, the stockbroker and the fund manager. In the third story line, two young interested investors get involved with the credit default swaps with a retired banker, Ben Rickert being their mentor. When a crisis is about to happen and one knows about it, he would be expected to ring the bell and caution the others. But in this world of greed, profit making mentality, one does not ring a bell. In this case, these people made money.  

Answer b

Mark Baum -

Baum is one of the central characters in The Big Short. When he joined Oppenheimer securities in 1991, he rose quickly among the ranks because of his bold behaviour and talent to predict when a company will fail. He had established himself as an analyst whose analysis would change the market and found joy in learning more about the industry. This charector in the movie is shown to be very confident that nothing can go wrong, until he looses his infant child. He decides to stand up for the lower and middle-class americans who the industry decides to take advantage of.

Micheal Burry -

He is the owner of Scion Capital and one of the first to realize that profit can be made by betting against the mortgage bond market. He is characterized by his fake eye, which was the result of a rare cancer in his childhood. He blames much of his peculiarity on his fake eye. For example, he gives reasons such as because of his weird eye he feels uncomfortable speaking face-to-face with the investors and hence he feels comfortable working alone where he privately communicates with the investors and clients. He had a financial blog alongside while he was studying medicine. Due to his passion towards finance, he quits medical. He is also known for his precise predictions as to when a company will have a come back and when a company will fall.  

Jared Vennet -

A bond trader from Deutsche Bank who recognizes the potential gains to be made from shorting the housing market. He initially faces uncertainty from Baum when he tells about his plan. He is not liked by many as he is very much promotional about himself when he casually talks, for example he speaks of how much hes getting paid and vocally judgmental about his employers. He successfully convinces Baum to bet against the mortgage bond market by showing him fixtures which represents the huge number of Americans who won't be able to pay their mortgages unless the value of their house grew which would not happen. Baum is immediately convinced.

Ben Rickert -

Ben being the former employee of Deutsche Bank, served the bank for 9 years. He is an alarmist and believes that destruction can strike anytime. He also finds out about the market and works with two young investors, Charlie Geller and Jamie Shipley to make money.  

Major ethical issues in the movie

Utilitarianism and Kantian theory - Utilitarian theory speaks of carrying out a deed which does good not only for few but for all whereas Kantian theory emphasizes on getting the work done, it does not matter if the method is right or wrong. In this movie we can see Mr. Baum coming under the category of utilitarian whereas the others under the category of Kantian theory where they just want to make profit and it does not matter to them if millions of Americans loose their jobs and home.

We can also see in the movie that Mr. Jared, for his own individual benefit wants to sell the shares of another person without his consent which makes him a cruel opportunist who does not have any work ethics.