Includes bibliographical references and index.

""David Sarna is a visionary technologist. He is also a sophisticated investor and financier. He has written a readable, comprehensive, fascinating, and well-researched book that explores troublesome aspects of the financial system in a way only an experienced insider could."-Jay N. Goldberg, Senior Managing Director, Hudson Ventures" ""A comprehensive review of what has happened to us in our financial markets over and over and over and over again. It's an important history, written with wit and delivered with wisdom. Undoubtedly, History of Greed will become required reading for anyone serious about understanding the capital markets."-Frederick L. Gorsetman, Founder And Managing Member, Oxbridge Financial Group, LLC" "400 Years Of Financial Fraud In The Making" "From the earliest financial scams of the seventeenth century, through the headline-grabbing Wall Street scandals of our times, History of Greed provides a comprehensive history of financial fraud. In it, David E. Y. Sarna exposes the true and often riveting stories of how both nanve and sophisticated investors alike were fooled by unscrupulous entrepreneurs, lawyers, hedge fund managers, CPAs, Texas billionaires, political fundraisers, music managers, financial advisers, and even former Mossad agents. From the people behind the financial fraud and how they did it to why people continually fall prey to scam artists, Sarna outlines what actions you can take today to protect yourself from becoming the victim of tomorrow's "too good to be true" investment opportunity. History of Greed details how markets are manipulated, hooks are cooked, Ponzi schemes are hatched, and how the government only closes the barn door once the cows have all escaped." "The "greater fool" theory of economics states that it's possible to make money by buying paper (securities), whether overvalued or not, and later, selling it at a profit because there will always be an raven greater fool willing to pay the higher price. Mans described in this book profited by peddling such worthless junk to foolish investors. Rut for some peopleB︣ernic Madoff, Norman Hsu, Sholam Weiss, and "Crazie Eddie" Antar, aka the "Darth Vader of Capitalism"-overvalued securities were not enough. Out-right fraud was their was their way of life. History of Greed is the compelling inside story of the names you know-Charles Ponzi, Baron Rothschild, Lou Pearlman-and the names you don't-Isaac Le Maire, the world's first "naked" short-seller. Its also our story-why we ignore the lessons of the past and fall prey, most every time, to the promise of easy money." "For thousands of years, alchemists unsuccessfully tried to turn worthless base metals into gold. Where science failed at turning nothing into something, business succeeded. Sometimes we praise the creators of derivatives, collateral debt obligations, subprime mortgages, credit default swaps, or auction rate securities as Wall Street's new financial wizards, the creators of "magic paper." Other times, we and prosecute them as scam artists. Sometimes, its hard to tell who is who. History of Greed reveals the inside secrets (If how the Markets really work, and how scam artists abuse them to gain an unfair edge or to outright steal. It describes how luftgesehelt ("air business"), wizardry, dishonesty, and fraud are used to swindle people. Along with a comprehensive bibliography, History of Greed also details:" "-400 years of financial fraudf︣rom everyday fraud to the odd and unusual" "-Accounting fraud (phantom sales), stock option fraud (backdating), auction rate securities, hedge fund fraud, Ponzi schemes, promotion fraud (pump-and-dump scams), and money laundering" "-How to detect fraudulent schemes" "-How government regulation only fixes yesterday's problems" "If it's too good to be true, it probably is. If they say you can't lose, you probably will. History of Greed shows that there really is no such thing as a free lunch, while also detailing how not to become the "greater fool.""--BOOK JACKET.