The Big Fix: Inside the S&L Scandal - How an Unholy Alliance of Politics and Money Destroyed America's Banking System [Hardcover]

James Ring Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 1990

Presents the inside story of the rash of failures of savings-and-loan institutions in the 1980s, written in a hard-news style by a nine-year veteran of The Wall Street Journal. Names the players in this game of monopoly where the money is real, including those highly-placed figures in government and finance. Documented here is a twisted tale of impotent regulation, financial mismanagement, political manipulation, fraud, and outright plunder.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Adams, a free-lance journalist whose articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal and Barron's , examines the current savings and loan debacle by looking at the history of American banking from the Great Depression to the present. Generally, the information here is similar to that offered in the other recently published books on this subject: Steven Pizzo and others' Inside Job ( LJ 9/15/89) and Paul Zane Pilzer with Robert Dietz's Other People's Money ( LJ 11/15/89 ) . All three books collectively provide a comprehensive history on this timely subject.
- Steven J. Mayover, Free Lib. of Philadelphia
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (January 16, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471515353
• ISBN-13: 978-0471515357
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,423,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not What You Think, April 13, 2002

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Fix: Inside the S&L Scandal - How an Unholy Alliance of Politics and Money Destroyed America's Banking System (Hardcover)

This in an interesting book and not one that only focuses on the nightly news sound bite about the S&L in Texas with three speed boats. This author examines why the S&L situation happened. The answers he uncovers do not paint the picture that the politicians want us all to think too much about. Basically the Federal government changes the rules in relation to capital requirements for S&L based on pressure from contributors and a Reagan policy of deregulate everything. Once that happened the mess started. The biggest mistake the government made was deregulating a business that they were on the hook for if they went under. The vast majority of S&L's were actually doing fine until even more regulation came out regarding capital requirements - all in all the politicians had as much to do with the issue as the bankers. The book is much better at explaining this then me, if you are interested in the topic or would like to broaden your understanding of the issues I would start here.