Malcolm Clark Movies

As devastating as the global financial meltdown of 2007-9 was, it actually stunned the vast majority of people, including those generally regarded as financial wizards. Curiously, these individuals not only failed to predict the depression, but long argued that such a calamity was next to impossible. Their arguments rested on axioms central to classical economics, including the notions that investors generally act reasonably and tend to act on the basis of their own self-interest. The problem with this logic is that such rules no longer apply in extreme situations amid great panic. The episode of the classic PBS documentary series Nova entitled Mind Over Money draws on interviews with fiscal experts and scientific experiments tied to money to investigate the great leap forward in economic understanding engendered by the said meltdown. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The Black-Scholes formula of economics promised to revolutionize Wall Street. It was a simple idea that determined the stock price according to mathematical principles. Yet when it hit the trading floor, it caused more damage than good. Nova reexamines the minds behind the money in Nova: The Trillion Dollar Bet. Fischer Black, Myron Scholes, and Robert Merton came up with the model that earned them a Nobel Prize in 1973. After basking in the acclaim and profit from a major award, Scholes and Merton joined a trading group. They intended to market the theory and shake up the marketplace. The success lasted a while until the machine crashed. While the formula took a pounding, the world economy trembled. Nova relives this close call as fortune-telling gets scientific. ~ Sarah Ing, Rovi