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.
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
