Danny Schechter - ColdType

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is, we call it leverage. That just means borrowing a lot of money,
and the combination creates a situation where you have
guaranteed record profits in the early years. That makes you
rich, through the bonuses that modern executive compensation
has produced. It also makes it inevitable that there’s going
to be a disaster down the road.”
Moyers asked, “So you’re suggesting, saying, that CEOs of
some of these banks and mortgage firms, in order to increase
their own personal income, deliberately set out to make bad
loans?”
William Black: “Yes.”
As an investigator and enforcement officer, Black is credited
with jailing 1000 executives in the aftermath of the S&L collapse.
He says that a subsequent federal investigation found fraud in
every bank that collapsed. The head of one of the banks he
closed, Charles Keating, who was later jailed – sent his lawyer a
letter covered, unfortunately, by attorney-client confidentiality
– urging him to “Get Black, Kill Him Dead.” (Keating became
infamous because of his links with five Senators – “the Keating
Five” – including John McCain. ) He also sued Black for $400
million and hired private detectives to discredit him.
A government study at the time confirmed Blacks claims
of a now forgotten wave of mass incarceration. The Financial
Times asked in September 2009:
How many financiers do you think ended up in jail after
America’s Savings and Loans scandals? The answer can be
found in a fascinating, old report from the US Department of
Justice.
According to some of its records, between 1990 and 1995
no less than 1,852 S&L officials were prosecuted, and 1,072
placed behind bars. Another 2,558 bankers were also jailed,
often for offenses which were S&L-linked too.
Those are thought-provoking numbers. These days the Western
world is reeling from another massive financial crisis, that