In this expert insider

Persons interested in the economics of fraud, the S&L debacle, the problems of financial regulation, and microeconomics more broadly will find this book to be very important. It is a marvelous combination of insider experiences, well-grounded generalizations, and the foundations of a broader research agenda. It merits a wide readership and, one hopes, sustained reflection on its arguments and conclusions. -- Robert E. Prasch Journal of Economic Issues

William K. Black is Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His leadership role in investigating the S&L crisis has been widely praised. He recently helped the World Bank develop anticorruption initiatives and served as an expert for Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight in its enforcement action against Fannie Mae's former senior management.

Abbreviations; Preface; AcknowledgmentsTheft by Deception: Control Fraud in the S&L Industry; "Competition in Laxity"; The Most Unlikely of Heroes; Keating's Unholy War against the Bank Board; The Texas Control Frauds Enlist Jim Wright; "The Faustian Bargain"; The Miracles, the Massacre, and the Speaker's Fall; M. Danny Wall: "Child of the Senate"; Final Surrender: Wall Takes Up Neville Chamberlain's Umbrella; It's the Things You Do Know, But Aren't So, That Cause DisastersAppendix A: Keating's Plan of Attack on Gray and Reregulation; Appendix B: Hamstringing the Regulator; Appendix C: Get Black ... Kill Him DeadNotes; Names and Terms; References; Index