Bill Black has just received unsolicited praise for his book about control fraud theory from one of the most credible sources possible. Vincent Kaminski was Enron’s (honest and exceptionally skilled) top risk officer. His positive, but ultimately futile, role at Enron is discussed in all the best books about that classic example of an accounting control fraud. Kaminski has just written that:
“There is one particular book I wish I had read in the early days of my business career, which would have saved me and the firms I worked for a lot of money.
The book, entitled The best way to rob a bank is to own one: how corporate executives and politicians looted the S&L industry, was written by William Black, associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. It is based on his experience as a regulator of savings and loans (S&L) institutions during the S&L crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s. Within its pages, Black introduces the concept of ‘control fraud’ – effectively, a very simple recipe for great riches and limited civil and criminal liability.”
NEP thanks Energy.net and Risk.net for their kind permission to reprint the excerpt of Mr. Kaminksy’s post that was originally posted on 12 March 2014.
Trying your best to balance the Federal Budget with a limited number of Tax Dollars—and doing so while visibly displaying great compassion for your fellow citizens in the hope they might reelect you—requires some very special thinking skills. These unique skills of rational analysis and gentle compassion were on display recently when Congressman Paul Ryan gave a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference laying the ground work for his forthcoming efforts to cut the deficit by “reforming” the welfare system.
