How They Got Away With It
White Collar Criminals and the Financial Meltdown
Published on 30. October 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-231-15691-2 (ISBN)
Description
A team of scholars with backgrounds in criminology, sociology, economics, business, government regulation, and law examine the historical, social, and cultural causes of the 2008 economic crisis. Essays probe the workings of the toxic subprime loan industry, the role of external auditors, the consequences of Wall Street deregulation, the manipulations of alpha hedge fund managers, and the "Ponzi-like" culture of contemporary capitalism. They unravel modern finance's complex schematics and highlight their susceptibility to corruption, fraud, and outright racketeering. They examine the involvement of enablers, including accountants, lawyers, credit rating agencies, and regulatory workers, who failed to protect the public interest and enforce existing checks and balances. While the United States was "ground zero" of the meltdown, the financial crimes of other countries intensified the disaster. Internationally-focused essays consider bad practices in China and the European property markets and draw attention to the far-reaching consequences of transnational money laundering and tax evasion schemes.
By approaching the 2008 crisis from the perspective of white collar criminology, contributors build a more general understanding of the collapse and crystallize the multiple human and institutional factors preventing capture of even the worst offenders.
By approaching the 2008 crisis from the perspective of white collar criminology, contributors build a more general understanding of the collapse and crystallize the multiple human and institutional factors preventing capture of even the worst offenders.
Reviews / Votes
We 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 JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
17 Kurvendiagramme
<B>17 Graphs</B>
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
496 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-231-15691-2 (9780231156912)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Susan Will | Stephen Handelman | David C. Brotherton
How They Got Away With It
White Collar Criminals and the Financial Meltdown
Book
10/2012
Columbia University Press
€114.08
Shipment within 10-20 days
Susan Will | Stephen Handelman | David C. Brotherton
How They Got Away With It
White Collar Criminals and the Financial Meltdown
E-Book
10/2012
Columbia University Press
€32.99
Available for download
Persons
Susan Will is an assistant professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Stephen Handelman is director of the Center of Media, Crime, and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is the author of Comrade Criminal: Russia's New Mafiya, which was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. David C. Brotherton is professor and chair of sociology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center, the City University of New York. His most recent publication, with Luis Barrios, is Banished to the Homeland: Dominican Deportees and Their Stories of Exile.
Content
AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart 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