 | | |
| Big Money Crime: Fraud and Politics in the Savings and Loan Crisis | 
 enlarge | Authors: Kitty Calavita, Henry N. Pontell, Robert Tillman
Publisher: University of California Press
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $5.20
You Save: $17.75 (77%)
Buy New/Used from $5.20
Avg. Customer Rating:  (2 reviews)
Sales Rank: 326386
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 281
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 0520219473
Dewey Decimal Number: 330
EAN: 9780520219472
ASIN: 0520219473
Publication Date: May 25, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
At a cost of $500 billion to American taxpayers, the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s was the worst financial crisis of the twentieth century as well as a crime unparalleled in American history. Yet the vast majority of its perpetrators will never be prosecuted, and those who were have received minimal sentences. In the first in-depth scrutiny of the ways and means of this disaster, this groundbreaking book comes to disturbing conclusions about the deliberate nature of this financial fraud, the political collusion involved, and the leniency of the criminal justice system in dealing with these "Gucci-clad white-collar criminals."
Using material from over one hundred interviews with government officials and industry leaders and recently declassified documents, the authors show how--contrary to previous government and "expert" explanations that chalked the disaster up to business risks gone awry or adverse economic conditions--S&L leaders engaged in deliberate fraud, stealing from their own corporations to speculate on high-risk ventures. Tempted by the insurance net, perpetrators looted their own institutions in a new kind of white-collar crime the authors dub "collective embezzlement."
Big Money Crime also demonstrates how systematic political collusion--not just policy errors--was a critical ingredient in this unprecedented series of frauds. Bringing together statistics from a variety of government agencies, the authors provide a close reading of the track record of prosecutions and sentencing and find that "suite crime" receives much more lenient treatment than "street crime," despite its significantly higher price tag. The book concludes with a number of modest, but no less urgent, policy recommendations to counter the current deregulatory trend and to avert a replay of the S&L debacle in other financial sectors.
FROM THE BOOK:"We built thick walls; we have cameras; we have time clocks on the vaults . . . all these controls were to protect against somebody stealing the cash. Well, you can steal far more money, and take it out the back door. The best way to rob a bank is to own one."--House Committee on Government Operations, 1988
|
| Customer Reviews:
The truth hurts February 22, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was well researched. I bought this book for the purpose of writing a research paper. However, it is an interesting read at the same time, very factual. Another book on this subject I would recommend is "S&L Hell by Kathleen Day
What everyone missed but payed for. September 30, 1999
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
A rigourously detailed, cited, and sad indictment on one of the most significant domestic issues in recent U.S.A. history. Read how the bankers and politicians saw it coming, but instead of prevention, deliberatly increased the magnitude of the crisis to a level of such massive debt, that the American public would be forced to flip the bill instead of the criminals who are at fault.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |