Friday, December 12, 2008

White Collar Crime Reconsidered or Best Democracy Money Can Buy

White-Collar Crime Reconsidered

Author: Kip Schlegel

In 1940, Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime in his presidential address to the American Sociological Society. Since then, E. F. Hutton, Drexel Burnham Lambert and Solomon Brothers have vividly brought the problem to the attention of the American public. In White-Collar Crime Reconsidered, the world's leading authorities on the subject expand upon Sutherland's concept of white-collar crime. They present the most compelling new scholarship as they take stock of the research and theory of the past fifty years, noting significant developments and shifts in the field. The volume presents new writings both on the theoretical issues of the causes of white-collar crime and on the problematic issues surrounding its social control by the criminal justice system and other agencies. Essays on definition and theory, victimization, enforcement, and the sanctioning of organizations and individuals raise important questions, ranging from what sanctions against corporate criminals a society can enforce, to the debate over whether many white-collar offenders can even be prosecuted, given the fact that their activities are often camouflaged as legitimate business practices. White-Collar Crime Reconsidered examines how inequality of wealth and power contributes to both "crime in the streets" and "crime in the suites" and explores the argument that white-collar offenders are motivated more by a fear of losing their wealth than by a desire to add to it. The volume also includes new research on reporting consumer fraud, as well as studies of the Savings and Loan scandal and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. White-Collar Crime Reconsidered is a fascinating and comprehensive examination of the inner workings of the individuals, corporations, and government agencies guilty of abusing their economic and societal privileges.

Booknews

In 1940, Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime in his presidential address to the American Sociological Society. In the present volume authorities on the subject expand upon Sutherland's concept of white-collar crime as they take stock of the research and theory of the past 50 years to address both the theoretical issues of the causes of white-collar crime and the problematic issues surrounding its social control by the criminal justice system and other agencies. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)



Interesting textbook: Fashion Retailing or Globalization and Militarism

Best Democracy Money Can Buy: An Investigative Reporter Exposes the Truth about Globalization, Corporate Cons, and High Finance Fraudsters

Author: Greg Palast

Award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast digs deep to unearth the ugly facts that few reporters working anywhere in the world today have the courage or ability to cover. From East Timor to Waco, he has exposed some of the most egregious cases of political corruption, corporate fraud, and financial manipulation in the US and abroad. His uncanny investigative skills as well as his no-holds-barred style have made him an anathema among magnates on four continents and a living legend among his colleagues and his devoted readership.

This exciting new collection brings together some of Palast's most powerful writing of the past decade. Included here are his celebrated "Washington Post" exposй on Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris's stealing of the presidential election in Florida, and recent stories on George W. Bush's payoffs to corporate cronies, the payola behind Hillary Clinton, and the faux energy crisis. Also included in this volume are new and previously unpublished material, television transcripts, photographs, and letters.

Andrew Tobias

Your reports should be read all over America.

Wall Street Journal - Jude Wanniski

Great writing on the Evil Empire of the IMF.

Counterspin - Laura Flanders

George Bush's nightmare.

New Statesman - John Pilger

The information is a hand grenade.

Will Hutton

All power to Palast's pen!

Sunday Times - Harry Evans

Fabulous stories.

C-Span

The last of the great journalists.

Jim Hightower

The type of investigative reporter you don't see anymore - a cross between Sam Spade and Sherlock Holmes.

The Guardian - George Monbiot

The journalist I admire most. [Palast's] amazing work puts all the rest of us journalists to shame. I'm an avid reader of everything Palast writes - can never get enough of it.

Maude Barlow

Courageous writing - when no one else will do it.

Alan Colmes

To Americans who cannot read his stories printed in Britain's Observer, he is America's journalist hero of the Internet.

Industrial Society

[Palast's reports] created shockwaves which have yet to die ... outstanding journalism.

Private Eye Magazine

The Most Evil Man in the World.

Harper's & Queen

Tony Blair's nightmare.

MediaChannel.org

An American hero in journalism.

Cleveland Free Times

The world's greatest investigative reporter.

US Journalism Hall of Fame

Intrepid investigative reporter who first broke the news that tens of thousands of likely Democratic voters were disenfranchised in Florida before the 2000 election.

Publishers Weekly

Muckraking has a long, storied tradition, and Palast is evidently proud to be part of it. In this polemical indictment of globalization and political corruption, Palast (a reporter with the BBC and London's Observer) updates the muckraking tradition with some 21st-century targets: the IMF, World Bank and WTO, plus oil treaties, energy concerns and corporate evildoers of all creeds. Some of Palast's reports are downright shocking (if familiar). He shows, for example, how the WTO prevents cheap AIDS drugs from reaching victims in Africa and how World Bank loan policies have crippled the economies of Tanzania and other developing countries. On the home front, he details Exxon's horrific safety record before the Valdez disaster and reveals the price-gouging by Texas power companies during the California energy crisis. In Britain, Palast exposes the "cash for access" policies of the Blair administration, and blasts the legal system for shielding Pfizer Pharmaceuticals from lawsuits by victims who had defective Pfizer valves installed in their hearts. These are all good, important stories. Most of them, however, have been published before. This book is essentially a collection of Palast's newspaper articles, hastily stitched together with some commentary and exposition. As such, it lacks cohesiveness and the depth his subjects deserve. In addition, Palast's bombastic style and one-sided perspective do much to undermine his own credibility. How seriously should readers take a journalist who labels former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers an "alien" and dismisses Wal-Mart shareholders as "Wal-Martians"? There is much of value here, but readers who want a full-bodied, serious analysis of how globalization is affecting developing countries or how corporate giants pay for political favors should look elsewhere. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Eight updated articles by award-winning iconoclastic reporter Palast represent some of the better known stories he has investigated such as the purge of African-Americans from Florida's voter registry, the iron triangle of globalization, and big money in dirty places. He also reflects on being an American exile in London. Distributed in the US by Stylus. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)



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