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The Big Short popularized the idea that giving mortgages to low income people was evil and caused the recession. Just all around very damaging for housing and homeownership

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Kevin Erdmann

@KAErdmann

Replying to @KAErdmann

In 2008, federal agencies cut about 15 million families out of the traditional mortgage market, and as a result low tier rent across cities has accumulated 40%+ inflation, devastating families with lower incomes in every city. 2/

11:49 AM · Jun 17, 2025

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Joel Colucci

@joelcolucci

I got the opposite impression. That big banks exploited people with over-intellectualized phony financial instruments.

2.5K

The c in causal stands for Cory

@coryfromphilly

Exploited who? No one with a mortgages was buying MBSs.

1.9K

Michael Dudekakis

@BallKnowerPJC

they were predatory mortgages from bad actors, that were then treated as gold and packaged together with good mortgages

1.8K

The c in causal stands for Cory

@coryfromphilly

This is the narrative Erdmann pushes back on. They were not "predatory mortgages" by and large, and the post GFC tightening of credit to low income people both got rid of legitimate predatory loans and perfectly fine loans.

1.4K

Investors.com

@IBDinvestors

Retail investors: Tired of spending hours researching stocks just to find one good trade?

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I did not get that impression from the book.

The c in causal stands for Cory

@coryfromphilly

I saw the movie, as did most people.

1.9K

kferrSea

@kferrDC

I mean 08 was in large part caused by giving mortgages to unqualified low income people who couldn’t put enough down.

466

Memo

@gsanchez1982

If that was your takeaway from "The Big Short", you need a bigger brain... The movie showcased how banks preyed on low income people to give them mortgages that they couldn't possibly pay and didn't need, so they could package these instruments with good mortgages and turn them

110

constans

@constans

No one with those mortgages depicted in the movie was poor. The real estate agent drives through what appears to be a middle class/upper middle class neighborhood

1.7K

Andrew Lang

@archibaldcrane

People just don't broadly understand that the mortgage issuance "fixes" extended way beyond just sub-prime mortgages.

Stwarth Piedra

@S2artPB

Idk man, in the movie I don’t think the bad loans are portrayed to be owned by low-income families, but instead by bad faith actors who loaded up on assets they could not afford. The low income family I remember was paying their rent while the landlord stopped paying

415

Joseph N. DiStefano

@PhillyJoeD

There were a Lot of bad home loans getting made, not just to people with no steady income but also to speculators, and the Big Short showed why that’s always bad

201

Investors.com

@IBDinvestors

Retail investors: Tired of spending hours researching stocks just to find one good trade?

It’s time to surge into a new era of stock research

subprime does not have to mean poor but in the end that’s the majority of those who are subprime. its not good for poor people or wealthy people that the government and banks allow massive spending beyond their means to make a quick buck

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David

@davidjoemax

The Big Short came out in 2015 when all these policies were set in stone and seen by a tiny % of the population. Nice to think of a film having such a huge impact on the world, but it didn’t.

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L3X1, lowercase 7 bot

@enL3X1

Poor people weren’t buying houses before the recession. Thats why they’re called poor

Mr. Creosote

@MssrCreosote

21m

normally a good idea to only give loans to those who can pay them back

Ryan Scott

@ryanscottborman

A lot of poor people can’t make it past the big upsets of home ownership like a boiler or AC failing.

140

Idriss

@Driss1715

That’s not what I took from that at all. I think they specifically focused on the fact that mortgages were given to irresponsible people who shouldn’t have had them.

175

jealousy professor

@BobbyPOTUS

Steve Carrel’s character has a like in the movie specifically addressing this where he says nobody will admit what caused the problem but instead blame it on immigrants and poor people

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Gorge Clooney

@roverbh11

No, it showed how irresponsible banks were in handing out mortgages to risky borrowers so they could inflate their sales.

Jeremy Coles

@JeremyTColes

I think we watched different films.

Morgan

@Nublarg

i mean, ive watched it several times over the years and that feels like a different way to frame it, giving loans to people who couldn't afford them put everyone at risk. Nowadays more & more people are taking out all kinds of loans and saddling with more debt than ever.

409

StatQuants

@statquants

$MSFT stock momentum has slowed. Here’s why: Since mid-2022:

Buybacks down 12.6% YoY

Stock-based compensation up 10.8% With buybacks no longer absorbing dilution, is this a red flag? $SPY $QQQ #Buybacks

Yeah man it was definitely the movie and not the massive recession lmao

Spann119

@spann119

15m

Perhaps I need to rewatch the movie but I thought it more so depicted banks letting people with their first taste of money get in way over their heads like in that one scene doesn’t that stripper have like three properties.

John Geary

@johngearysquash

a key part of Erdmann’s thought is that mortgagees in the mid ‘00s were no more riskier than borrowers in the ‘90s—the whole narrative is simply fake

zeezy

@zeezytaughtmii

This is a very silly summarization of what happened.

Damon

@only2lurk

It's not evil, per se, but if the banks know they will be bailed out for writing bad loans you will inevitably end up with a house of cards. Tighter lending requirements also bring down house prices, which is good.

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willem

@willemedia

That’s…not at all what The Big Short described or popularized. Did you check your phone a few too many times during the movie?

This seems incorrect

That’s not what the movie said at all, actually. You should probably try watching it man

170

meh

@WokeDon

This is the opposite of the film’s plot

Timmy Ashton

@TAshton61338

It did cause the recession. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backed it all the way to collapse.

CamWils31

@CamWils31

This is second grade logic, that ignores actual facts.

Despite if you stayed and was able to ride out the storm, you won. But what did you win if nobody is paying attention in 2025. Its all smoke and mirrors today. Including the evidence destroyed. And that is just another day in America.

Colin Powell Austin Powers

@colpowauspow

If mortgagors defaulting on notes that were sold to MBSs didn't cause the recession then what did?

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Nebi Teferra

@Nebsterrr

Don’t think the movie that came out in 2015 is responsible for that

@efs120

Another reason why Adam McKay is full of shit

379

Marcus Shnark

@MarcusShnark

Then Obama and geithner bailed out the banks!

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The c in causal stands for Cory

@coryfromphilly

The "poor govt regulation" and "no doc" (NINJA) loans is what spurred the harsh regulations that reduced credit to low income homebuyers

125

StatQuants

@statquants

$MSFT stock momentum has slowed. Here’s why: Since mid-2022:

Buybacks down 12.6% YoY

Stock-based compensation up 10.8% With buybacks no longer absorbing dilution, is this a red flag? $SPY $QQQ #Buybacks

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night brain

@_night_brain__

12h

wait, the NEW YORK SUBWAY is a FLAT FARE? and people are complaining about it being TOO EXPENSIVE?

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Fin

@Ryswk

12h

Replying to @_night_brain__

Flat fare, like the subway ($2.90)

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Jacob Shell

@JacobAShell

The "Based Mike Lee" proposal to sell off the American public's hunting and fishing frontier commons to Black Rock is so instantly and deeply unpopular, that it's amazing the Democrats are basically dodging the issue rather than maximally exploiting it.

I am now a single issue voter

Good fucking god

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@jgoldbeck

Jun 16

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