The Burchfield Penney's August Second Friday, Friday, August 12, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., features a screening of the 2010 documentary Inside Job and panel discussion about the financial crisis of 2007–2010.

Directed by Charles H. Ferguson, Inside Job lays much of the blame on Wall Street and a revolving door of regulators, many of whom came straight from the big banks. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2010 and won an Academy Award for "Best Documentary Feature" in 2011. Ferguson has described the film as being about "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption."

Following the film screening, a panel will provide brief remarks on issues related to the financial crisis raised in the film and Q and A session. Bruce Fisher, visiting professor of economics and finance and director of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies; Gary Marotta, professor of history and social studies education; and Ted P. Schmidt, associate professor of economics and finance and co-editor of Heterodox Economics Newsletter.

“The film is important because it explains the roots of the crisis,” said Schmidt, “and so far, no one’s gone to jail for it.” He added that the government bailout was over five trillion dollars and the taxpayers footed the bill. “Some fines were assessed,” Schmidt said, “but, without jail time, we’ll never see the end of these types of activities.”

The screening and panel discussion is cosponsored by the Economics and Finance Department and the Center for Economic and Policy Studies.