Goldman Sachs and the Decline of Greece (Enhanced DVD)

The debt default of Greece leading to devaluation of the European Union’s shared currency, the Euro, also signaled the ongoing instability for the international financial investment sector and its institutions. Partly to blame, U.S. based Goldman Sachs was implicated in the Southern European nation’s investment portfolio. Selling high risk financial products to the government, the financial institution earned significant profit on the deals, and in exchange mismanaged the country’s funds, catapulting Greece deeper into debt in an already devolving market environment.

Goldman Sachs and the Decline of Greece (2012) travels to Athens, London, and New York in a documentary investigation of the events preceding Greece’s economic crisis. With debt closing in on 60 percent of national gross domestic product (GDP), the top limit prior to default set by the European Commission in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, the Greek government and Goldman Sachs deflected criticism as the country moved toward  what had then become imminent economic disaster.

Offering insight into the delay in Eurostat reporting by the EU office in Brussels, the film illustrates the continuation of laissez-faire response to alleged financial engineering that would soon impact the economic welfare of the entire regional trade block. The film also shows the human side of the crisis in interviews reflecting the risk of ongoing tacit consent, and the final blow rendered to the Greek people in regional austerity measures put into place to buffer the crisis.

Goldman Sachs and the Decline of Greece

• DVD
• ISBN 978-1-61753-970-1
• Run Time 50 Minutes
• Copyright 2012
• Closed Caption (CC)