Part 2

S01 E02 • Tuesday, May 1, 2012 • May 1

Hour Three opens with Barack Obama taking office in the midst of the worst economic crisis in 80 years. To the surprise of many, he adopts a strategy to help the very Wall Street firms that plunged the American economy into chaos. FRONTLINE goes inside the White House to meet the key figures locked in a fierce debate over the administration's game plan and follows those who said they had no choice but to rescue Wall Street. Did they choose the right course? In Hour Four, FRONTLINE probes into a Wall Street culture that remains focused on making risky trades. Bankers left an ugly trail of deals extending from small American cities to European capitals. For more than three years, regulators have tried to fix an industry steeped in conflicts of interest, excessive risk taking, and incentives to cheat. New rules and regulations are being written, but can they fend off the next crisis?