Full Description
A Ponzi scheme is one of the simplest, albeit effective, financial frauds to engineer, and new schemes keep coming forward. Despite this, however, people continue to invest in them. How are we to account for the seemingly never-ending lure of such schemes? In providing answers to this central question, this concise and well-researched book examines how Ponzi schemes operate, how they differ from pyramid schemes, Ponzi finance and other financial arrangements.The author questions whether the victims have only themselves to blame, why fraudsters think that they can avoid detection, and what important insights behavioural finance theory and psychology can add. Particular attention is paid to the reasons behind the failure of financial regulation, and the types of regulatory changes needed to protect investors and avoid repetitions. The analysis is informed by case studies of 11 Ponzi schemes in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Finance and business academics interested in the operation of Ponzi schemes, and how they differ from pyramid schemes, will find this book invaluable, as will students of economics, finance, behavioural decision-making and psychology. Lawyers, psychologists, regulatory agencies and financial institutions will also benefit considerably from the analysis.
Contents
Contents: 1. An Outline of the Book 2. How do Ponzi Schemes Work? Comparing them to Other Financial Activities 3. Charles Ponzi's Scheme Re-examined 4. Bernard Madoff and the 'Mother of all Ponzi Schemes' 5. Allen Stanford: The Cricketing Impresario 6. Five Other Case Studies: From Shaking Down the FBI to Bitcoin Fraud 7. Preying on the Amish 8. What can Behavioural Finance Tell Us? 9. What Would Psychologists Say? 10. What Can be Done About Ponzi Schemes? 11. Summary and Conclusions Index
