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The Savings and Loan Debacle of the 1980s: White‐Collar Crime or Risky Business? *
Author(s) -
BLACK WILLIAM K.,
CALAVITA KITTY,
PONTELL HENRY N.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
law and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.534
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-9930
pISSN - 0265-8240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9930.1995.tb00138.x
Subject(s) - white collar crime , loan , collar , white (mutation) , explanatory power , economics , power (physics) , business , criminology , actuarial science , law and economics , psychology , finance , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , gene
This paper examines the role of white‐collar crime in the savings and loan crisis. Noting economists' assertions that crime was only a minor ingredient in the crisis, we compare the explanatory power of this “minimal fraud” model to that of its “material fraud” alternative. Bringing together evidence from every major study of thrifts in the 1980s, we argue that only the material fraud hypothesis can make sense of these data. This study demonstrates the utility of deductive reasoning in distinguishing between white‐collar crime and ordinary business transactions, thereby potentially contributing to prosecutorial efforts, and helping resolve long‐standing methodological dilemmas confronting white‐collar criminologists.