Big Dirty Money

Taub explicitly and persuasively places the breakdown of enforcement and accountability in the context of money and class. (The New York Times)How ordinary Americans suffer when the rich and powerful use tax doges or break the law to get richer and more powerful - and how we can stop it.There is an elite crime spree happening in America and the privileged perps are getting away with it. Selling loose cigarettes on a city sidewalk can lead to a choke-hold arrest and death if you are not among the top one percent. But if you''re rich and commit mail wire or bank fraud embezzle pension funds lie in court obstruct justice bribe a public official launder money or cheat on your taxes you''re likely to get off scot-free (or even win an election). When caught and convicted such as for bribing their kids'' way into college high-class criminals make brief stops in minimum security Club Fed camps. Operate the scam from the executive suite of a giant corporation and you can prosper with impunity. Consider Wells Fargo & Co. Pressured by management employees at the bank opened more than three million bank and credit card accounts without customer consent and charged late fees and penalties to account holders. When CEO John Stumpf resigned in shame the board of directors granted him a $134 million golden parachute.This is not victimless crime. Big Dirty Money details the scandalously common and concrete ways that ordinary Americans suffer when the well-heeled use white collar crime to gain and sustain wealth social status and political influence. Profiteers caused the mortgage meltdown and the prescription opioid crisis they''ve evaded taxes and deprived communities of public funds for education public health and infrastructure. Taub goes beyond the headlines (of which there is no shortage) to track how we got here (essentially a post-Enron failure of prosecutorial muscle the growth of too big to jail syndrome and a developing implicit immunity of the upper class) and pose solutions that can help catch and convict offenders.