Pizzo, Stephen; Fricker, Mary; and Muolo, Paul. Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989. 443 pages.

These authors, two of whom are associated with the National Thrift News in New York, have put together an award-winning account of the Great S & L Heist. This is a tale of a seven-year period during which "a greedy network of swindlers, mobsters, S & L executives, and con men have capitalized on regulatory weaknesses created by deregulation and have thoroughly fleeced the thrift industry."

On October 15, 1982 Ronald Reagan invited 200 people to witness the signing of the Garn-St.Germain Act, which canceled much of the S & L regulation of the last 50 years. "All in all, I think we've hit the jackpot," he told his appreciative audience. Ten years later Charles Keating is in jail, the people he robbed will never recover their money, and the "Keating Five" (Senators Cranston, DeConcini, Glenn, McCain, and Riegle) are still making excuses. There's every indication that the next generation will pay heavily for the 1980s.

More quality financial reporting like this is needed in America. White-collar crime and violations of the public trust may not provide the sort of footage that improves ratings on the evening news, but they do more than their share of the damage. Use a pen, go to jail.
ISBN 0-07-050230-7

Extract the names from this source

Back to search page