Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans

It was a $500 billion scam--</NOBR>far exceeding the cost of rebuilding all of Western Europe after the Second World War plus ten years of air, land, and sea warfare during the Vietnam conflict. As huge as the Enron bankruptcy may be, it is dwarfed by the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, which remains the worst collapse of a financial institution in American history. A trio of investigative reporters led by freelance journalist Stephen Pizzo plunged into the depths of these crimes and hauled up this shocking chronicle of fraud, corruption, and self-dealing so deep and extensive that every taxpayer is paying the price to this day. In <I>Inside Job</I>, Pizzo and his partners reveal the relationship between S&L ripoffs and covert CIA operations; between junk bonds promoted by so-called distinguished brokerage houses and the plundering of the life savings of trusting investors; between shady felons and winking politicians right up to not one but two Presidents of the United States. After reading <I>Inside Job</I> you will never look at your banker, broker, or political representative the same way again.