The Economist has the article James Bond economics sub-titled “Casino Royale was all about the financial crisis ”

MANY villains from the James Bond film franchise had madcap schemes for getting rich, like building solar power plants. Some, however, were far more pedestrian: drug lords, water monopolists, and corrupt Soviet generals. The most interesting of these (from an economist’s perspective, anyway) was Le Chiffre, 007’s antagonist in Casino Royale:

Le Chiffre’s business was similar to many other financial firms. He secured cheap funding by issuing deposit-like liabilities. This was pretty easy, since Le Chiffre promised his clients “no risk in the portfolio,” easy access to their savings, and “a reasonable rate of return.” In the days before Bernie Madoff, who wouldn’t want to bank with a man offering that deal? Besides, Le Chiffre’s clientele had few alternatives. Unlike Mr Madoff, however, Le Chiffre actually generated significant alpha for his investors thanks to insider trading, which is far from a unique strategy.

Read the article for more details of how Le Chiffre was just another arm of the financial crisis.