Some TV shows’ themes or setting is in the world of finance. Besides entertaining, they give viewers a glimpse in the world of banking and finance, thereby educating us. We get to see the inner working on how these institutions handle our money and what could happen if not handled properly or abused. The following are five of such shows you should see.
Billions
The show is based on actual events involving Preet Bharara and Steve Cohen. The series uses different names for the characters. The show centers of Bobby Axelrod (played by Damian Lewis), called the “hedge funds king.” The show depicts how he worked his way to earn billions (hence the title). He is modeled after Cohen. While the show gives us a look on Bobby’s very luxurious lifestyle, it does not come without risks and issues that help provide some tension in the show. There is the US District Attorney Chuck Rohades determined to bring him down because he suspects Bobby is engaged in insider trading, a “mortal sin” in the finance world. All he needs is to gather enough evidence to send him to jail. Rhoades is modeled after Bharara. You can Watch Billions online via Prime or Showtime and a few other streaming channels.
White Collar
This show focuses mainly on white collar crimes as the title suggests. It shows viewers how crimes like fraud and embezzlement are done. It is considered financially themed since such crimes do involve money. The central characters to this series is a con artist named Neal Caffrey (played by Matt Bomer) who works with an FBI Agent Peter Burke (played by Tim DeKay) in going after white collar criminals using his smooth-talking skills to work his way into the confidence of the criminals before finally having them arrested.
Betting on Zero
This is a 90-minute documentary centering on Herbalife which is suspected of being a pyramiding scheme. The main focus is an individual named Bill Ackman who invested money in this company. Herbalife is one of those multi-level marketing companies marketing health products. But what is looked at here is this elaborate scheme where prospective investors not only put in money, but also need to recruit people to do the same which in turn would give them a return of investment or in other words, they will also earn through them, and the process is repeated down the line. Ackman gives viewers an inside look on how it is done.
Requiem for the American Dream
The resource person here is political activist Noam Chomsky. Being the activist that he is, he shows viewers the ugly side of society. He discusses how wealth and power in America is being accumulated by the elites of society, citing a variety of reasons such as globalism, corporate greed and fixation on material success. But at the same time, he offers solutions on how to address the problem such as public protests, social pressure to elect public officials who can improve the lives of the public.
Steve Jobs: Billion Dollar Hippy
This is not just a story on Steve Jobs’ life, but a journey of an entrepreneur on how he worked his way to the top, his downfall and his comeback. Steve Jobs handled the business side of Apple and this documentary shows us how his success in marketing Apple’s products widely patronized by people all over the world.
