"This book was originally published in two volumes in Great Britain under the titles At bonus time, no one can hear you scream and Trust me, I'm a banker by Elliot and Thompson Limited"--T.p. verso.

From the bestselling author of F.I.A.S.C.O., a riveting chronicle of the rise of dangerous financial instruments and the growing crisis in American business One by one, major corporations such as Enron, Global Crossing, and Worldcom imploded all around us, prey to a greed-driven culture and dubious or illegal corporate finance and accounting. In a compelling and disturbing narrative, Frank Partnoy's Infectious Greed brings to bear all of his skills and experience as a securities attorney, financial analyst, law professor, and bestselling author to tell the story of the rise of the trading instruments and corporate financial structures that imperil the economic health of the country. Starting in the mid-1980s with the introduction of the first proto-derivatives, and taking us through such high-profile disasters as Barings Bank and Long Term Capital Management, Partnoy traces a seamless progression to today's dangerous manipulations. He documents how each new level of financial risk and complexity obscured the sickness of the company in question, and required ever more ingenious deceptions. It's an alarming story, but Partnoy offers a clear vision of how we can step back from the precipice.

Since the first edition of the Encyclopedia of White Collar and Corporate Crime was produced in 2004, the number and severity of these crimes have risen to the level of calamity, so much so that many experts attribute the near-Depression of 2008 to white-collar malfeasance, namely crimes of greed and excess by bankers and financial institutions. Whether the perpetrators were prosecuted or not, white-collar and corporate crime came near to collapsing the U.S. economy. In the 7 years since the first edition was produced we have also seen the largest Ponzi scheme in history (Maddoff), an ecological disaster caused by British Petroleum and its subcontractors (Gulf Oil Spill), and U.S. Defense Department contractors operating like vigilantes in Iraq (Blackwater). White-collar criminals have been busy, and the Second Edition of this encyclopedia captures what has been going on in the news and behind the scenes with new articles and updates to past articles.