Boom, Bust, Boom- A Timely and Different Take on the Economy

In a particularly wacky election year, the economy has taken a backseat to a loud and rage-filled campaign.

Although it is not as high on the docket as it was in the 2008 election, the economy is one interesting issue – and one that is addressed in the documentary “Boom Bust Boom”

The economy and the foundation it is built on is the subject of the documentary “Boom Bust Boom” directed by Bill Jones and Ben Timlett sharing credit with Jones’ father, Terry Jones of Monty Python, who also narrates the doc.

The documentary delves into the comical way that economies operate, thinking that crashes are an impossibility and even though the filmmakers knew some of it, they did not know everything.

“I was aware of it to a degree, but not fundamentally,” said Timlett.

Bill Jones saw some similarities between the mortgages that led to the 2008 crash “Hang on a second that’s what I’ve got,” laughed Bill Jones when describing what the filmmaking process was like.

This process was one that led the two filmmakers down a rabbit hole of history that gives a lesson or two that is hard to ignore, human beings tend to make the wrong choices when it comes to the economy, something schools fail to teach.

“I had no idea that crashes are not taught in university,” said Timlett. “That they base entire economic models and run on the economy based on the fact that crashes are impossible.”

To be fair, economics and finance are not the easiest of subjects – but this does not stop the filmmakers from presenting an informative and entertaining peak at what lead to the 2008 economic crash.

“Having the animation helped us explain a little bit more clearly,” said Bill Jones “Sometimes we needed to simplify it.”

Something that needs a little simplification is the economy. One of the core messages of the film is that there needs to be a fundamental change in how economics are taught and practiced in order to avoid the kind of crash that devastated the world in 2008. We have to “try to create an economy that protects ourselves, “ said Jones.

“Boom Bust Boom” delivers a haymaker to the current state of economics and is a warning about the dangers of an unhinged economy where speculation runs rampant.

“There is not anything inherently evil about speculation, “ said Jones. “Just don’t speculate with your house.”