The National Catholic Review An economist's take on HBOs 'Too
Big to Fail'  I am an economist, not a film critic, so I will
not say much about HBO’s “Too Big to Fail” as an example of film
making. My reviewing process: I watched the film with my wife
and we then discussed it.  The film is a cross between a mystery
drama and a documentary. HBO went all out and cast big-name
stars: William Hurt stars as Treasury Secretary Paulson, Ed
Asner as Warren Buffet, Billy Crudup as New York Federal Reserve
President Timothy Geithner, Paul Giamatti as Chairman of the
Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, Kathy Baker as Paulson's wife,
Wendy, and one of my favorite actors, James Woods, as Richard
Fuld, chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers, whose filing for
bankruptcy in September 2008 set off shockwaves of fear that the
entire financial system was about to implode.  To emphasize the
film as a drama the producers focus on Secretary Paulson and his
personal interaction with the other characters—Bernanke,
Geithner, assorted bank pres