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Ambiguous Practices In Inside Job

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The film, Inside Job, is based on the financial crisis of 2008. It depicts various examples of ethically ambiguous practices that can be seen in the merger between Citicorp, a multinational banking corporation, and Travelers, an insurance company. These two companies merged in 1998 to form Citigroup, the largest financial services company in the world. The ambiguous practice involved was the fact that it was illegal for this merger to occur and nothing was done to block it. This merger failed to comply with the Glass-Steagall Act, which "prevented banks with consumer deposits from engaging in risky investment banking activities" (Inside Job). The Chairman of The Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, should have prevented this merger due to this Act, but he instead turned a blind eye. However, not only did The Federal Reserve turn a blind eye to this illegal act, but they also granted them with a dispensation for a year. This gave them enough time to pass a law to allow the merger and make it legal, which is why the practice worked. In 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Citigroup Relief Act, invalidated the …show more content…
This outcome based philosophy includes egoism, which involves doing what is best for oneself. Although the merger was illegal, it allowed Citicorp and Travelers to gain more money for themselves, which is egoism. For example, the Vice Chairman of Citigroup, Robert Rubin, would eventually make $126 million. Another example of egoism is that large banks like to have lobbying power, monopoly power, and once they are too large they know they will be bailed out. Therefore, Citicorp wanted to become one of these large

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