HEIST covers more than four decades of American economic and political history. Here you'll find background on some of the people, policies, institutions, and ideas explored in the film.

​

NEW DEAL

The New Deal was a series of programs and reforms enacted during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration in response to the Great Depression. Built around relief, economic recovery and financial reform, it reshaped the relationship between the federal government, the economy and American workers.

Lasting reforms included Social Security, federal deposit insurance through the FDIC, stronger oversight of financial markets through the Securities and Exchange Commission, and banking reforms designed to reduce the risk of another financial collapse. Some New Deal programs and institutions remain in place today.

​

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE

Introduced by the Federal Communications Commission in 1949, the Fairness Doctrine required broadcast license holders to address controversial issues of public importance and provide opportunities for contrasting viewpoints.

The FCC stopped enforcing the doctrine in 1987 and formally removed the obsolete regulations from its rules in 2011.

​

DODD-FRANK

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law in 2010 in response to the financial crisis of 2007–2009.

The law introduced broad changes to financial regulation, including increased oversight of risks to the financial system, new regulations affecting financial institutions and markets, and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

​

HERITAGE FOUNDATION

Founded in 1973, the Heritage Foundation is a conservative public-policy organization that has played an influential role in developing and promoting conservative policy proposals.

Its Mandate for Leadership, first published in 1981, presented more than 2,000 recommendations for changing the direction and operation of the federal government. The Reagan administration adopted or attempted many of its recommendations, and Heritage has continued publishing editions of Mandate for Leadership for subsequent administrations.

​

POWELL MEMO OF 1971

In August 1971, corporate attorney Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote a confidential memorandum for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce titled Attack on American Free Enterprise System. Powell would soon be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The memo argued that American business needed to become far more organized and active in influencing politics, the courts, education, media, and public opinion.

The Powell Memo occupies a central place in HEIST, which examines it as part of a broader corporate political mobilization that developed during the 1970s and the decades that followed.

​

ALAN GREENSPAN

Alan Greenspan served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006 under four presidents. A prominent advocate of market-oriented economic policies, he supported financial deregulation during a period of growing complexity in financial markets.

Following the 2008 financial crisis, Greenspan’s views on regulation and the ability of financial markets to manage risk came under intense scrutiny. HEIST argues that this approach helped give Wall Street the green light to become “something close to a casino.”

​

OLIGARCHY

An oligarchy is a system in which political or economic power is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group.

In HEIST, the concept is used to examine the concentration of economic and political influence among wealthy individuals, corporations and financial institutions.

​

DEREGULATION

Deregulation is the reduction or removal of government rules governing industries and markets.

Beginning in the 1970s, major industries including transportation, telecommunications and finance underwent significant deregulation under administrations of both political parties. HEIST examines how this shift toward less government oversight affected workers, corporations, financial markets and the broader economy.

​

OFFSHORING / OUTSOURCING

Offshoring occurs when a company moves jobs or business operations from one country to another. Outsourcing occurs when a company contracts work that was previously performed internally to an outside provider.

Both practices can reduce costs and increase efficiency for companies, but their effects on employment, wages and communities have been the subject of decades of economic and political debate. HEIST examines these practices as part of the larger transformation of American manufacturing and employment.

​

TOO BIG TO FAIL

“Too big to fail” describes the idea that certain financial institutions or companies can become so large and interconnected that their sudden collapse could threaten the wider economy.

The term became widely associated with the financial crisis of 2008, when the federal government took extraordinary steps to stabilize financial institutions and other companies considered important to the functioning of the economy.

HEIST examines how the increasing size and influence of financial institutions contributed to the economic system that preceded the crisis.

 

TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS

“Trickle-down economics” is a popular term commonly associated with supply-side economic policies that emphasize lower tax rates, particularly on businesses, investment and higher incomes, with the argument that increased investment and economic activity can produce broader economic benefits.

These ideas became especially prominent during the Reagan administration. During Reagan’s presidency, major tax legislation reduced the top individual income-tax rate substantially, ultimately reaching 28 percent following the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

HEIST examines these tax policies as part of the broader debate over economic growth, income inequality and the distribution of wealth.

​

COMMODITY FUTURES MODERNIZATION ACT

Signed into law in 2000, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act significantly changed federal regulation of futures, options and derivatives markets.

The treatment of certain over-the-counter derivatives under the law later became part of the debate over financial regulation and the causes of the 2008 financial crisis. After the crisis, the Dodd-Frank Act established new regulatory requirements for many derivatives and financial institutions.

​

NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, was a trade agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico that took effect in 1994. It progressively eliminated many tariffs and other trade barriers among the three countries.

Supporters argued that NAFTA expanded trade and economic opportunity, while critics pointed to job displacement, wage pressure and the movement of manufacturing operations outside the United States.

NAFTA was replaced in 2020 by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.

​

SUBPRIME MORTGAGE CRISIS

Subprime mortgages are home loans made to borrowers considered to have higher credit risk and therefore often carrying higher interest rates or less favorable terms.

In the years preceding the 2008 financial crisis, large numbers of mortgages were packaged into complex financial securities and sold to investors. When housing prices declined and mortgage defaults increased, losses spread throughout an increasingly interconnected financial system.

The resulting crisis exposed weaknesses in mortgage lending, securitization, risk management and financial regulation and contributed to the most severe U.S. economic downturn since the Great Depression.