Fraud by Edward J Balleisen

Fraud by Edward J Balleisen

Not only is Fraud a careful and thoughtful exploration of the complicated relationship between business, the market, and policy. It is also a thought-provoking and engaging book.--Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational

In the end, capitalism is always a confidence game, so the problem of fraud is always with us. But the occurrence, perception, and regulation of fraud has a history, and Balleisen has now written the definitive account of it. A deeply researched and beautifully crafted book that follows the shape-shifting problem of deceit across the centuries, Fraud is nothing short of a new history of American capitalism.--Jon Levy, University of Chicago

A huge achievement. This will be the authoritative history of fraud in the United States for many years to come. Edward Balleisen takes us on a fascinating and entertaining tour of the many ways that swindlers have consistently shadowed America's proudest innovations, sometimes even outdoing the originals for ingenuity and impact.--Walter A. Friedman, Harvard Business School

Often vivid and always thoughtful, this is a very important and impressive work by a rigorous, venturesome historian at the top of his game. When so much public debate about regulation is polemical and hyperbolic, Edward Balleisen has made a major contribution by writing a book that thoroughly, comprehensively, even-handedly, and engagingly examines the history of American fraud and its regulation from the early nineteenth century to today.--Daniel R. Ernst, Georgetown University Law Center