A Hedge Fund Show Tune: Ditty Lampoons Magnetar's 'Betting Against The American Dream' (VIDEO)

As part of their segment this week on the hedge fund Magnetar, This American Life and Planet Money asked Broadway composer Robert Lopez to write a show tune capturing the fund's role in the financial meltdown.

Sung by John Treacy Eagan and Christian Borle in this fun video, the song succinctly explains how Magnetar concocted highly risky collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) while simultaneously betting that they would fail. When the housing market crashed and the value of the CDOs plummeted, Magnetar got rich.

"All we got to do, to make or dreams come true," they sing, "is bet against the American dream!"

Check out the full This American Life episode here.

WATCH:

Bet Against The American Dream from Planet Money on Vimeo.

Comments

[wassilij]

06:08 PM on 04/14/2010

GET YOUR MONEY OUT OF THE BIG BANKS NOW!!!!......AND INTO YOUR LOCAL CREDIT UNIONS NOW......THE SECOND WAVE IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER....YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! DON"T BE HIT TWICE.!

[AlienC]

02:56 AM on 04/13/2010

The historical answer to corrupt business and government has been revolution.

[shadowanddaisy]

01:35 AM on 04/13/2010

I listened to this story this past weekend when it was broadcast on This American Life. I highly recommend it - if you have to stomach to keep reliving this nightmare.

NPR's Planet Money is also an excellent resource for the layperson to listen to when they need help understanding highly complex financial issues. They break it down into simple terms that are not condescending to its audience.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

[StacheService]

10:23 PM on 04/12/2010

Not all tycoons made out like bandits. Here's a video of the banker from Monopoly as he hits the skids and ends up dumpster diving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=266CviLQYz0

Sad really.

[Lake Saganaga]

05:24 PM on 04/12/2010

Another one from George Carlin on the American Nightmare :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q

[PhilipTaylor]

04:55 PM on 04/12/2010

US TAXPAYER IS SUPPORTING THIS SCAM BY CITI+G0LDMAN+JPM+M0RGAN+BofA+PAULSON HEDGE FUND(S)

http://vimeo.com/10815824

THEY BET AGAINST THE "AMERICAN DREAM!"

THEY BET AGAINST AMERICANS TO MAKE $BILLIONS!

John Paulson in TANDEM WITH G0LDMAN made BAD PRODUCTS, Sold them as SAFE "AAA" and then BET MASSIVELY against AMERICANS that the products would fail! John Paulson personally POCKETED $3.7 Billion with this SCAM!

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

[PhilipTaylor]

05:13 PM on 04/12/2010

RECORD BANKRUPTCIES! UNFAIR BANKRUPTCY LAWS!

1. Underemployment rate at 20%
2. Percentage of borrowers three months behind in mortgage payments is 6.67%
3. Major banks now in PAY DAY LOAN SHARKING charging 120% or higher interest rates.
4. # Billionaires is GROWING
5. 70% of all wealth now owned by the top 1%
6. CEO pay in ONE YEAR = 500 years pay of average worker
7. $146 Billion in Record BONUSES to Wall Street
8. $23.7 Trillion in Welfare Credit Lines to UNREGULATED Corrupt and Broken Wall Street
9. Congress is OWNED by Wall Street and Financial Aristocracy
10. No Effort in D0DD Bill to BREAK UP Wall Street Banks containing CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
11. MORE POWER TO BANKSTER OWNED FED to regulate BANKSTERS!
12. BACKDOOR Wall Street BAILOUTS WITHOUT CONGRESS IN D0DD BILL!
13. FED PRINTING INFLATIONARY DEBT - HANDING IT TO BANKSTERS AT 0%
14. RICH pay lowest TAXES (16.7%) in Industrialized World and Lowest since before the Great Depression. For 50 Years before REAGAN the rate was 63% to 94% on income over $550,000!
15. Hedge Fundsters MAX TAX IS 15% - OUTRAGEOUS! On $4 Billion INCOMES!

www.TaxWallStreet.org is Organizing to bring change and CURE THIS SCAM-INFESTED CRISIS by gaining control of OUT-OF-CONTROL Financial Institutions.

[ObamAtomic]

04:48 PM on 04/12/2010

American Dream is Becoming a Nightmare!

[dfranz]

12:45 PM on 04/12/2010

That would have been more fun if it wasn't so true. We have allowed the country to be taken over by the money tenders and market manipulators.

Their's is a very small universe that does not include the rest of us.