The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One
The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One : How Corporate Executives and Politicians Looted the S&L Industry
Author: William Black
Amazon Info
William Black provides a very impressive book on the S&L crisis. He provides a first person view into what was happening behind the scenes and, more importantly, is able to provide a theoretical framework for why things happened the way they did. In a nutshell, his claim is that certain "rational man" economic theories fail to account for fraudulent/criminal behavior; the people running the high-flying S&Ls were not simply business people taking advantage of risky behavior where losses were insured and all the upside went to themselves and shareholds. Rather, these were criminals running a Ponzi-style scam and defrauding shareholders and creditors of millions of dollars. What is even more remarkable about this book is that it is extremely readable and educational.
While Black seems to freely admit to some of his shortcomings and biases, I still had the feeling that there was a bit of "spin" in this book - as the "bad guys" really seemed to lack any redeeming features. But perhaps they really were that evil - or, if they were given rebuttal space, it would just be full of lies. Hard for me to tell.
Recommended to anyone with an interest in finance, banking, business or the recent corporate governance scandals.