Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | John Gieve | 20090817 | As the first anniversary of global financial meltdown approaches, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston talks to four key individuals who were in the eye of the storm. Why did they fail to see the warning signs of economic catastrophe and what are the long term consequences? As a senior civil servant at the home office, John Gieve had been grilled by select committees over prisoner releases and charged with investigating allegations of ministerial impropriety. But if he had hoped for a graceful denouement at the end of his 40-year career, he was out of luck. Gieve joined the Bank of England in 2006; less than two years later he would be called on to help form a rescue plan as bank after bank teetered on the brink of collapse. Robert Peston talks to former deputy governor of the Bank of England, John Gieve. Robert Peston talks to four key individuals about the global financial meltdown |
| 02 | Jim Chanos | 20090824 | As the first anniversary of the 2008 global financial meltdown approaches, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston talks to four key individuals who were in the eye of the storm. Why did they fail to see the warning signs of economic catastrophe and what are the long term consequences? Hedge fund managers and 'short-sellers': evil market manipulators who contributed to the financial mess, or canny soothsayers who predicted what politicians and bankers wouldn't or couldn't see? Jim Chanos is a hedge fund pioneer. He made his fortune spotting and exposing irregularities in companies like Enron and gambling that their share price would collapse. He offers an insight in the psychology of short selling and why it allowed people like him to see what others did not. Robert Peston talks to hedge fund pioneer Jim Chanos about the global financial meltdown. Robert Peston talks to four key individuals about the global financial meltdown |
| 03 | John Varley | 20090831 | As the first anniversary of global financial meltdown approaches, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston talks to four key individuals who were in the eye of the storm. Why did they fail to see the warning signs of economic catastrophe and what are the long term consequences? The chief executive of Barclays Bank, John Varley, gives an insider's view of how it felt to watch bank after bank teeter on the brink of collapse over the weekend of October 11, 2008, and how he feared that, unless the government intervened, there would be a crisis of confidence in the whole banking system. He tells Robert how it felt to watch thousands of Barclays employees coming in to work on the Monday morning unsure whether or not the bank had been nationalised. Robert talks to the chief executive of Barclays, John Varley, about the banking crisis. Robert Peston talks to four key individuals about the global financial meltdown |
| 04 | Adair Turner | 20090907 | As the first anniversary of global financial meltdown approaches, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston talks to four key individuals who were in the eye of the storm. Why did they fail to see the warning signs of economic catastrophe and what are the long term consequences? If Adair Turner had been in his present job, as Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, in the run-up to the banking crisis, would he have seen it coming? Candidly, he says he is not sure that he would. Appointed in 2008, it is now his job to help restore trust in the financial system. He offers his insight into why the regulations that were in place didn't work and predicts the consequences of the economic downturn for Britain. Robert Peston talks to Adair Turner, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority. Robert Peston talks to four key individuals about the global financial meltdown |