Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWe have clearly not learned the lessons of past financial debacles, a central one being that crime has played a significant role in them. Unlike traditional economic and legal analyses, this volume starts from the (correct) premise that criminal offending was a central phenomenon in the meltdown. Its contents provide diverse and penetrating analyses of how fraud occurred and how it might best be prevented. This work provides an excellent foundation for further academic research and needs to be on the desk of every legislator dealing with financial regulation. -- Henry N. Pontell, University of California, Irvine, coauthor of Profit Without Honor: White-Collar Crime and the Looting of America Criminology failed the challenges of the global financial crisis. In this book, leading criminologists put this right by explaining impunity for the crimes of financial capitalism. It is rich with insight on how Wall Street games regulation. When Goldman Sachs takes fat fees to help Greece conceal its debt, is fraud involved? Are millions of unemployed Greeks victims of fraud? Are we all? What of Goldman Sachs then placing bets on the failure of the Greek economy? These are the questions considered in this important work. -- John Braithwaite, Australian National University ...this book is a valuable resource for details about the financial crisis. Library Journal
Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: Roots of the Crisis 1. Wall Street: Crime Never Sleeps David O. Freidrichs 2. The Logics of Finance: Abuse of Power and Systemic Crisis Saskia Sassen 3. America's Ponzi Culture Susan Will 4. Bernie Madoff Jock YoungPart II: Enablers of Fraud 5. Unaccountable External Auditors and Their Role in the Economic Meltdown Gilbert Geis 6. And Some with a Fountain Pen: Mortgage Fraud Subprime Bubble Harold C. Barnett 7. Generating the Alpha Return: How Ponzi Schemes Lure the Unwary in an Unregulated Market David ShapiroPart III: Perverted Justice 8. The Technological Advantages of Stock Market Traders Laureen Snider 9. Why CEOs Are Able to Loot with Impunity-and Why It Matters William K. Black 10. The Facade of Enforcement: Goldman Sachs the Politics of Blame Justin O'BrienPart IV: Perspectives from Afar 11. Reappraising Regulation: The Politics of "Regulatory Retreat" in the United Kingdom Steve Tombs and David Whyte 12. How They Still Try to Get Away with It: Crime in the Dutch Real Estate Sector Before and After the Crisis Hans Nelen and Luuk Ritzen 13. Economic and Financial Criminality in Portugal Rita Faria 14. Greece "For Sale": Casino Economy and State-Corporate Crime Sophia Vidali 15. Financial Fraud in China: A Structural Examination of Law and Law Enforcement Hongming ChengEpilogue Can They Still Get Away with It? Appendix A Short (Global) History of Financial Meltdowns Compiled by Alex Holden Contributors Index