Read Jason Kersten's posts on the Penguin Blog. The true story of a brilliant counterfeiter who "made" millions, outwitted the Secret Service, and was finally undone when he went in search of the one thing his forged money couldn't buy him: family. Art Williams spent his boyhood in a comfortable middle-class existence in 1970s Chicago, but his idyll was shattered when, in short order, his father abandoned the family, his bipolar mother lost her wits, and Williams found himself living in one of Chicago's worst housing projects. He took to crime almost immediately, starting with petty theft before graduating to robbing drug dealers. Eventually a man nicknamed "DaVinci" taught him the centuries-old art of counterfeiting. After a stint in jail, Williams emerged to discover that the Treasury Department had issued the most secure hundred-dollar bill ever created: the 1996 New Note. Williams spent months trying to defeat various security features before arriving at a bill so perfect that even law enforcement had difficulty distinguishing it from the real thing. Williams went on to print millions in counterfeit bills, selling them to criminal organizations and using them to fund cross-country spending sprees. Still unsatisfied, he went off in search of his long-lost father, setting in motion a chain of betrayals that would be his undoing. In The Art of Making Money, journalist Jason Kersten details how Williams painstakingly defeated the anti-forging features of the New Note, how Williams and his partner-in-crime wife converted fake bills into legitimate tender at shopping malls all over America, and how they stayed one step ahead of the Secret Service until trusting the wrong person brought them all down. A compulsively readable story of how having it all is never enough, The Art of Making Money is a stirring portrait of the rise and inevitable fall of a modern-day criminal mastermind. Watch a Video

The trade in counterfeit goods is growing and is increasingly linked to transnational organised crime. But little is known about the financial mechanisms that lie behind this trade. This is the first account of the financial management of the counterfeiting business. Written by experts in a wide range of fields, it examines the financial and business structures in relation to the illicit trade in counterfeit products. Based on interviews with active criminal entrepreneurs in the UK and abroad and other data, the authors explore ‘organised crime’ and mutating criminal markets, digital technologies and their criminological and sociological implications, and cultural values and practices. This book will make a significant contribution to our understanding of these timely issues.

The issue of idolatry has been with the human race for thousands of years; the subtle temptation is always to take what is good and turn it into the ultimate good, elevating it above all other things in the search for security and meaning. In this timely and challenging book, New York pastor Timothy Keller looks at the issue of idolatry throughout the Bible -- from the worship of actual idols in the Old Testament, to the idolatry of money by the rich young ruler when he was challenged by Jesus to give up all his wealth. Using classic stories from the Bible Keller cuts through our dependence on the glittering false idols of money, sex and power to uncover the path towards trust in the real ultimate -- God. Today's idols may look different from those of the Old Testament, but Keller argues that they are no less damaging. Culturally transforming as well as biblically based, COUNTERFEIT GODS is a powerful look at the temptation to worship what can only disappoint, and is a vital message in today's current climate of financial and social difficulty.

"This tale of counterfeiting is a treat for everyone...a delightful history lesson...Admirable and altogether charming." -The Washington Post As Ben Tarnoff reminds us in this entertaining narrative history, get-rich-quick schemes are as old as America itself. Indeed, the speculative ethos that pervades Wall Street today, Tarnoff suggests, has its origins in the counterfeiters who first took advantage of America's turbulent economy. In A Counterfeiter's Paradise, Tarnoff chronicles the lives of three colorful counterfeiters who flourished in early America, from the colonial period to the Civil War. Driven by desire for fortune and fame, each counterfeiter cunningly manipulated the political and economic realities of his day. Through the tales of these three memorable hustlers, Tarnoff tells the larger tale of America's financial coming-of-age, from a patchwork of colonies to a powerful nation with a single currency.

This book overviews and integrates the business and technical issues that pharmaceutical companies need to know in order to combat the major global problem of counterfeit medicines. In addition to discussion of the problems, the author Davison addresses analytical techniques scientists use to detect counterfeits and presents some possible solutions to the threat of counterfeit medical products. Coverage moves from basic overview of the problem, costs / risks to consumers (toxic products, mistrust of drug companies) and business (revenue loss, public trust), government oversight and regulation, authentication strategies (packaging, analytical techniques), product tracking and supply chain, and case studies from around the globe.

Why should the supply chain be concerned if their buyers or subcontractors are purchasing counterfeit electronic parts or if their products contain counterfeit electronic parts? If these parts end up in items that are safety critical and security-risk sensitive such as aviation, space, and defense products, whole secure systems can be comprised. As organizations have become aware of counterfeit parts, one of their responses may be to test upon acceptance or prior to receipt. But testing alone may not detect all counterfeits. Possible sources of counterfeits include products that did not meet quality control requirements and were not destroyed, overruns sold into the market place, unauthorized production shifts, theft, and e-waste. The counterfeited electronic part ends up in the supply chain when ordered by an unsuspecting buyer, who does not confirm the originating source of the part. The second edition of Counterfeit Parts and Their Impact on the Supply Chain expands on the latest insights of what is really happening in the world of supply chains, quality monitoring and testing, counterfeiting mitigation and avoidance strategy. It brings new light into the consequences of weak supply-chain monitoring and how costs, reliability and reputation are negatively impacted by counterfeit products and components.

Countries could potentially spend significantly less on health care with no impact on health system performance, or on health outcomes. This report reviews strategies put in place by countries to limit ineffective spending and waste.