u/Maximum_Jello_9460

I’ve been reading the book ‘Crashed’ by Adam Tooze, which covers the factors leading up to the 2008 crash, the immediate response, and fallout 10 years later.

His assessment seems to be that Brown and Labour handled the immediate aftermath of September 08 very well by quickly recapitalising the banks and taking equity rather than simply buying bad assets, which became influential in how other countries in the West responded.

Would you agree with this assessment? Obviously whether he/Labour contributed to the crisis (which they and almost every other powerful nation did) is a different topic all-together.

Just finished ‘The Secret of Life’, which covers the discovery of the double helix of DNA (and the wider history of the study of DNA).

He’s long been my favourites science writer, with Anatomy of Addiction being one of my favourite non-fiction books of all time.

I’d recommend any of the four books shown.

Posted the pages from the book I’m reading that mentions this, but here’s a summary.

The blockbuster loophole was a 1970s Hollywood financing scheme that turned movies into tax shelters. Before Gerald Ford stepped in, investors could fund films structured to show large paper losses early, then use those losses to slash their taxable income. Wealthy backers often saved more in taxes than they actually invested, and if a movie flopped, banks absorbed much of the loss—while any hit was pure upside. The system exploded in popularity and, for a few years, ended up financing a huge share of American films.

Ford’s Tax Reform Act of 1976 killed it this loophole. By cracking down on these tax-shelter deals, the government dried up easy outside financing and forced studios to take back control. That shift is what helped usher in the modern blockbuster era: instead of churning out investor-funded projects, studios focused on fewer, bigger bets designed to reliably draw massive audiences—such as what we consider the first blockbuster, Jaws.

Posted the pages from the book I’m reading that mentions this, but here’s a summary.

The blockbuster loophole was a 1970s Hollywood financing scheme that turned movies into tax shelters. Before Gerald Ford stepped in, investors could fund films structured to show large paper losses early, then use those losses to slash their taxable income. Wealthy backers often saved more in taxes than they actually invested, and if a movie flopped, banks absorbed much of the loss—while any hit was pure upside. The system exploded in popularity and, for a few years, ended up financing a huge share of American films.

Ford’s Tax Reform Act of 1976 killed it this loophole. By cracking down on these tax-shelter deals, the government dried up easy outside financing and forced studios to take back control. That shift is what helped usher in the modern blockbuster era: instead of churning out investor-funded projects, studios focused on fewer, bigger bets designed to reliably draw massive audiences—such as what we consider the first blockbuster, Jaws.