Hypocrisy Quotes in The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Either piece of news [...] should have disrupted the subprime bond market and caused the price of insuring the bonds to rise. Instead, the price of insuring the bonds fell. (4.36)

If you thought that the banks were hypocritical before, then just wait until you see how they react when subprime mortgages start defaulting. Instead of adjusting the bonds accordingly, they keep the prices artificially inflated, presumably so they can sell off as many bonds of their own as possible. It's a full-on scam at this point.

Quote #5

"What became clear," said Charlie, "was that there was a limited amount of information out there and we had the same information as everyone else." (5.12)

The hypocrisy of the ratings agencies is staggering when it comes to subprime mortgages. If anyone should be closely analyzing the content of these bonds, it should be them, but they're operating off the same threadbare information as everyone else. It's insane.

Quote #6

It was also a stunning opportunity: The market appeared to believe its own lie. (5.53)

At a certain point, Wall Street's hypocrisy becomes so rampant that everyone loses the thread and starts buying their own nonsense. That's when you know things have gotten bad.