Book Description

"An unprecedented breakdown in the rule of law occurred in the United States after the 2008 financial collapse. Myriad large banks settled securities fraud claims for failing to disclose the risks of subprime mortgages they sold to the investing public. Rather than breaking up these powerful megabanks, , the government accepted fines that essentially punished innocent shareholders instead of senior leaders at the megabanks. In [this book the authors] examine the wrongdoing underlying the financial crisis. They reveal that the government failed to use its most powerful law enforcement tools despite overwhelming proof of fraud on Wall Street before, during, and after the crisis. The pattern of criminal indulgences exposes a new degree of crony capitalism in which the powerful can commit financial crimes of vast scale with criminal and regulatory immunity. A new economic royalty has seized the commanding heights of our economy through their control of trillions in corporate and individual wealth and their ability to dispense patronage. The Case for the Corporate Death Penalty shows that this new lawlessness poses a profound threat that urgently demands political action and proposes attainable measures to restore the rule of law in the financial sector." -- Book jacket.