From Library Journal
Taxpayers will be taking a bath soon, as the government bails out hundreds of failed thrift and savings and loans institutions. Estimates of the cost vary from $150 to $300 billion or more. This "thrift debacle" is the "greatest regulatory financial disaster in American history," says Eichler. He discusses the history of thrift institutions, their peculiar financial arrangements, and their role in the housing/real estate markets. This system fell apart in the inflationary 1970s with the mismatch between short-term interest rates and long-term loans. Deregulation was a mistake, says Eichler, resulting in increasingly risky investments, with the thrifts reaping many gains and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Company forced to pick up the losses. In the final chapter, Eichler describes what should have been done. Perhaps too complicated for the average reader. An acronym glossary would have helped.
- Alex Wenner, Indiana Univ. Lib., Bloomington
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Alex Wenner, Indiana Univ. Lib., Bloomington
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
