Topic: Ben Black

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz was driven by insurance paperwork rather than military mines or blockades. Seven insurance companies filed paperwork that spiked rates from $2 million to $150 million per ship, halting one-fifth of the world's energy supply. In response, the DFC announced a reinsurance plan with Chubb as the lead underwriter to guarantee up to $20 billion in losses and resume shipping flow.

Professor Bill Black testifies that the Federal Reserve, under both Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, refused to use its authority to regulate subprime lending despite FBI warnings of an "epidemic of mortgage fraud" in 2004. Black asserts that the Fed ignored internal warnings about the developing housing bubble and failed to send in examiners. The segment suggests this negligence was intentional and designed to benefit the banking industry.