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Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0822956004
ISBN-13: 9780822956006
Apr 1996
Publisher: Univ of Pittsburgh Pr
Pitt Series in Policy and Institutional Studies
Language: English |
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Details
| Details | | Series: | Pitt Series in Policy and Institutional Studies |
| Size | | Height: | 9.3 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 17.6 oz |
Industry Reviews
This book reviews the fascinating--and horrifying--story of how American savings and loan associations . . . managed to rack up horrendous losses during the decade of 1980s. . . . Rom estimates a total loss of $180 billion. To put this in perspective, note that for an American population of approximately 250 million, this represents an average loss of roughly $750 for every woman, man, and child of the entire population over the decade. This is not an absolute calamity, as Rom rightly points out, but it is also far from a minor inconvenience. Rom retells the story with great skill, and it was a pleasure for me to watch the details of the unfolding of a financial Greek tragedy. . . . Rom's repeated split infinitives . . . drove this linguistic conservative crazy; in my view, split infinitives are just unacceptable in educated, written English.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Stevenson
Rom's absorbing and well-written study must be reviewed on two planes. On its most fundamental level, it retells the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s, and as such is a measured analysis of the causes of the thrift failures. It is especially enlightening when examining the decisions of the various authorities in light of the information available to them rather than from perfect hindsight. . . . Rom's second and more conceptual level is less satisfactory. He uses the S&L crisis to contrast the public choice theory favored by many economists with his alternative--public spirit, positing that officials attempted to act in the common interest. The simplistic implications of public choice theory are mere straw men easily consumed by Rom's fire. . . . All in all, however, Rom's book is required reading for those fascinated by the S&L crisis.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Prager
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