Big Money Crime: Fraud and Politics in the Savings and Loan Crisis Book

At a cost of $500 billion to American taxpayers, the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s was one of the worst financial crises of the twentieth century as well as a series of crimes unparalleled in American history. Yet the vast majority of its perpetrators will never be prosecuted, and those who were received minimal sentences. In the first in-depth scrutiny of these white-collar crimes, 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." "An important, arresting book." --Michael Rogin, author of Blackface, White Noise "The best way to rob a bank is to own one." --House Committee on Government Operations "This is a great book. Well written and argued, extensively documented, it is without doubt the definitive report on the S & L scandals. Calavita, Pontell and Tillman lay to rest, once and for all, the convenient canard that "bad management" and "bad economic conditions" caused the S & L disaster. Their clear, careful analyses makes it crystal clear that massive insider fraud was basic in every sense." --Laureen Snider, Queens University (Ontario, Canada) "This is a most important book by perhaps the most important newspaper editor of the last half-century. The New York Times could not have been the important paper it is had Rosenthal not been its best reporter and editor, unparalleled in judgment, integrity, and an awareness of the future in the media." --Gay Talese, author of The Kingdom and the Power "A wonderfully rich, detailed analysis of the savings and loan mess as organized crime . . . offering clear and cogent insights into a very complicated saga." --Davita Silfen Glasberg, Contemporary SociologyRead More