An international 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. They also take stock of the long-term devastation done to governments, businesses, and individuals, and the ongoing, systemic issues that have so far allowed the perpetrators to get away with their crimes. Insightful 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 practice in China and the European property markets, and they 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 they crystallize the multiple human and institutional factors preventing justice from capturing even the worst offenders
Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Roots of the Crisis1. Wall Street: Crime Never SleepsDavid O. Freidrichs2. The Logics of Finance: Abuse of Power and Systemic CrisisSaskia Sassen3. America's Ponzi Culture Susan Will4. Bernie MadoffJock Young Part II: Enablers of Fraud5. Unaccountable External Auditors and Their Role in the Economic MeltdownGilbert Geis6. And Some with a Fountain Pen: Mortgage Fraud Subprime BubbleHarold C. Barnett7. Generating the Alpha Return: How Ponzi Schemes Lure the Unwary in an Unregulated MarketDavid Shapiro Part III: Perverted Justice8. The Technological Advantages of Stock Market TradersLaureen Snider9. Why CEOs Are Able to Loot with Impunity -- and Why It MattersWilliam K. Black10. The Facade of Enforcement: Goldman Sachs the Politics of BlameJustin O'Brien Part IV: Perspectives from Afar11. Reappraising Regulation: The Politics of "Regulatory Retreat" in the United KingdomSteve Tombs and David Whyte12. How They Still Try to Get Away with It: Crime in the Dutch Real Estate Sector Before and After the CrisisHans Nelen and Luuk Ritzen13. Economic and Financial Criminality in PortugalRita Faria14. Greece "For Sale": Casino Economy and State-Corporate CrimeSophia Vidali15. Financial Fraud in China: A Structural Examination of Law and Law EnforcementHongming Cheng Epilogue Can They Still Get Away with It?Appendix A Short (Global) History of Financial MeltdownsCompiled by Alex HoldenContributorsIndex
