Econ 100B
Economic Summary: Mad Money The movie, Mad Money, is about an upper middle class woman, Bridget Cardigan who was used to the finer things in life when she is suddenly forced to go into the work force after her husband gets downsized. Faced with the reality of losing her home as her debt begins to increase, Bridget accepts a job on the cleaning crew at a local branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. With the growing temptation of the cash that surrounds her night after night ultimately proves too powerful to resist, Bridget teams up with two of the other cleaners, Nina and Jackie, for a criminal activity of stealing worn-out dollar bills slated for destruction. The movie starts off with Bridget, at a neighbor’s party, finding out that her has decided to sell the house in order to pay off their debts. Her husband has been downsized from his corporate job and unemployed for a year. Already tried to cut their spending, like canceling their club membership and ending their health insurance, it isn’t enough for the Cardigans to pay off their $286,000 debt. This causes her husband to become a discouraged worker. He has given up looking for a job and has had no success in finding a job. Regardless, The Cardigans refuses to give up their upper middle class lifestyle, as this decision may increase their debt more. Also, since the couple is in debt, they were not able to pay their housecleaner for the third time, as the check, payment to the housecleaner, got bounced. This causes Bridget, a homemaker, to go out and find a job. While looking for a job, it is clear that Bridget’s background in the workforce does not help her find a decent modest-salary job. She has been out of the workforce for a while, raised her two children, has a degree in comparative literature, and is not proficient on computer software. An education in comparative literature is a very slow sector in the economy and the degree is not in high demand.
With no other options left, she