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William Black 44 posts 0 comments

William K. Black, J.D., Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Bill Black has testified before the Senate Agricultural Committee on the regulation of financial derivatives and House Governance Committee on the regulation of executive compensation.

Monetary System

Ten lessons from Charles Keating on corporatism and control fraud

William Black Apr 5, 2014

I knew Charles Keating, the head of Lincoln Savings, in my capacity as a financial regulator and as the subject of his wrath. His fraud schemes and the manner in which they targeted our system’s vulnerabilities in an era before Citizens…

Economy

The agency problem and how to create a criminogenic environment

William Black Aug 10, 2013

The problem of not understanding fraud mechanisms is most intense among economists, who typically do not study fraud, do not understand fraud mechanisms, and have a tribal taboo against even writing or speaking the word “fraud.”

Markets

The housing appraisers warned us about the crisis but we didn’t listen

William Black Jul 11, 2013

The appraisers’ petition began in 2000 and was public. When the regulators and prosecutors did nothing in response to the appraisers’ warning the appraisers delivered it to government officials to ensure that no one could say they were not…

Economy

“Pervasive” Fraud by our “Most Reputable” Banks

William Black Feb 28, 2013

A recent study confirmed that control fraud was endemic among our most elite financial institutions.

Monetary System

The Perversity of Economics’ “Culture of Fraud”

William Black Aug 13, 2012

The culture of fraud in economics is a severe problem, and Harvard is a “hot spot” of that culture.

Political Economy

The Silver Anniversary of the “Keating Five” Meeting — Citizens United’s…

William Black Apr 9, 2012

April 9, 2012 is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the most infamous savings and loan fraud, Charles Keating’s, successful use of five U.S. Senators to escape sanction for a massive violation of the law. The Senators were Alan Cranston (D.…

Monetary System

The worst anti-regulatory travesties in the financial sphere have had broad, bipartisan support

William Black Mar 27, 2012

The imminent passage of the fraud-friendly JOBS Act caused me to reflect on the fact that the worst anti-regulatory travesties in the financial sphere have had broad, bipartisan support. The Garn-St Germain Act of 1982, which deregulated…

Economy

The JOBS Act will create an extraordinarily criminogenic environment

William Black Mar 26, 2012

The JOBS Act is insane on many levels. It creates an extraordinarily criminogenic environment in which securities fraud will become even more out of control. One of the forms of insanity is the belief that one can “win” a regulatory…

Political Economy

(Re) Occupy Greece

William Black Mar 16, 2012

Germany and Papademos have ended Greece’s political sovereignty, but Greece gave up its economic sovereignty long ago when it adopted the euro. Two aspects of national economic sovereignty were inherently lost with nations that gave up…

Economy

Wall Street’s Broken Windows

William Black Mar 7, 2012

The troubling paradox is that the strongest proponents of “broken windows” theory and policies in the blue collar crime context are the strongest opponents of applying analogous policies in the elite white collar crime context.