One 1990s white-collar crime spree and the wreckage it left behind

David Enrich in the New York Times:

After a financial crisis torpedoed the U.S. economy in 2008, the public clamored for accountability. Millions had lost their homes and livelihoods. Crimes had been committed. Surely, the bankers, brokers and investors who had precipitated and profited from this collapse would be brought to justice.

Nope. While a few midlevel bank employees were prosecuted, the architects of a rotten system generally escaped with their nine-figure fortunes intact. It was not long afterward that Donald Trump began his rise to power, and many observers pointed to the hangover from the 2008 crisis, and the impunity that characterized it, as part of his appeal.

In “The Killing Fields of East New York,” Stacy Horn examines another, long forgotten financial crisis — one with a very different outcome.

More here.

Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.