Lying for Money: How Legendary Frauds Reveal the Workings of Our World

Description

Financial crime seems horribly complicated but there are only so many ways you can con someone out of what's theirs. In fact, there are four. A veteran regulatory economist and market analyst, Dan Davies has years of experience picking the bones out of some of the most famous frauds of the modern age. Now he reveals the big picture that emerges from their labyrinths of deceit. Along the way you'll find out how to fake a gold mine with a wedding ring, a file and a shotgun. You'll see how close Charles Ponzi, the king of pyramid schemes, came to acquiring his own private navy. You'll learn how fraud has shaped the entire development of the modern world economy. And you'll discover whether you have what it takes to be a white-collar criminal mastermind, if that's what you want. (Which you don't. You really, really don't.)

Dan Davies is a former regulatory economist at the Bank of England and analyst for a number of investment banks. His career has seen him tackle all manner of financial crookedness, including the LIBOR and FX scandals, the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank and the Swiss Nazi gold scandal. He has written for the Financial Times and the New Yorker among other publications.

Dan Davies tells all these stories with verve and wit ... Much of the book is a romp through the crimes of scoundrels - Ponzi, Madoff, Keating, the Krays ... Yet what takes it from absorbing to excellent is the author's insight. Read Lying for Money and you will look at fraud in a whole new way. Actually, you will look at every market transaction you take part in in a whole new way. -- Daniel Finkelstein * the Times * Entertaining * Financial Times * Highly entertaining, historically fascinating but also intellectually rigorous -- Ann Pettifor * TLS * If you want to learn to fend fraud, read this. And if you want to commit fraud ... don't. But if you absolutely must, first read this -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb author of The Incerto (Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, Antifragile, Skin In The Game) An engaging and indispensable guide for novice fraudsters - and for those who want to keep out of their clutches. -- John Kay, author of Other People's Money A vivid, historical account of scams and the con artists behind them. Beyond the individual stories, Davies makes a deep and important point about market societies ... This delightful book is as instructive as it is entertaining. -- Dani Rodrik, author of Economics Rules and The Globalisation Paradox I haven't had this much fun and learned this much reading a finance book since The Money Game. -- J. Bradford DeLong, author of The End of Influence Davies is one of these people who's automatically the smartest person in any conversation that he joins. -- Joe Weisenthal, presenter of Bloomberg's What'd You Miss? Fascinating, gripping - and true ... This is a terrific read. -- Diane Coyle, author of Sex Drugs and Economics