Colonel Rebel Posted September 17, 2004 Report Share Posted September 17, 2004 For a white collar crime seminar I'm taking this semester (which, the textbook must have been written by some paleo-socialist) I am required to do a book report and case study on a major white collar crime incident. Being the capitalist I am, I'm already at an interesting standpoint regarding white collar crimes (according to federal rules and regulations). My take is that the professor wants us to basically examine why corporations are evil and cannot be trusted. But i've not time for that mental midgetry. Anyways... ...was curious if anyone could name or think of an example/book topic of a past or present incident of white collar crime (ie Martha Steward...but not as widely reported) where I can take a capitalist approach? Having read Capitalism: An Unknown Ethic, I was thinking about doing my case study on Standard Oil in terms of monopolization, or a recent one like Microsoft. But...I'm rationally open to new ideas. Thanks in advance! Col. Rebel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolboxnj Posted September 18, 2004 Report Share Posted September 18, 2004 Jeffrey Reiman wrote "The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison", which has a whole 1/4th of the book on white collar crime. It also has a Marxist critique of our criminal justice system, which may be helpful in the paper even if you (and I) disagree with it. It's a popular book for criminology classes in American Unis, so you probably won't have a hard time finding it. Plenty of examples of white collar crime, like Medicare/Medicaid Fraud.. Remember, it doesn't have to be a major corparation to be a white-collar crime. Submitting a fraudulant claim for your insurance would be a white-collar crime, even on the individual level. Perhaps picking a government program (i.e. Medicare/Aid) and chronicaling the abuses within the system both by recipiants and the government. I think that would be a great Capitalist approch instead of attacking big business which are sometimes only guilty of being successful (Microsoft) TB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidOdden Posted September 18, 2004 Report Share Posted September 18, 2004 For a white collar crime seminar I'm taking this semester (which, the textbook must have been written by some paleo-socialist) I am required to do a book report and case study on a major white collar crime incident. Out of curiosity, how does he define "white collar crime"? Is plain old check forging a "white collar crime"? How about counterfeiting? Sale of LSD? Taking a bribe? Offering a bribe? Patronizing a whore? Bootlegging music CDs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argive99 Posted September 18, 2004 Report Share Posted September 18, 2004 Out of curiosity, how does he define "white collar crime"? Is plain old check forging a "white collar crime"? How about counterfeiting? Sale of LSD? Taking a bribe? Offering a bribe? Patronizing a whore? Bootlegging music CDs? It was either Peikoff or Salsman (or both) who said that the term 'White Collar Crime' is itself a package deal and an invalid concept. If its possible try to discredit the very use of the term itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Rebel Posted September 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2004 yup. funny you should mention that. we had a great discussion on what white collar crime is, and a few mental midges started arguing these precedents via the definition the professor gave us. I ended up taking thier precedent and showed them that stealing a candy bar from a gas station, by thier measure, would be a white collar crime. the best part, was that they couldn't swallow thier pride and ended up agreeing with me. So...abstractly, you can see with the nonsense I encounter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Rebel Posted September 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2004 "Perhaps picking a government program (i.e. Medicare/Aid) and chronicaling the abuses within the system both by recipiants and the government. I think that would be a great Capitalist approch instead of attacking big business which are sometimes only guilty of being successful (Microsoft)" Good point. I'm thinking the prof. wants us to pick corporations though. But if i can play my cards right, i can show the individual abuses of government programs. Like welfare fraud, medicare fraud, et al.....off to the bookstore, imo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trader Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 ...was curious if anyone could name or think of an example/book topic of a past or present incident of white collar crime (ie Martha Steward...but not as widely reported) where I can take a capitalist approach? Having read Capitalism: An Unknown Ethic, I was thinking about doing my case study on Standard Oil in terms of monopolization, or a recent one like Microsoft. But...I'm rationally open to new ideas. Thanks in advance! Col. Rebel Hopefully it is not too late to add a suggestion. Check out the following article by Glen Woiceshyn Michael Milken: Guilty of Success and Victim of Non-Objective Reporting. Milken might make a good case study. The article even references a book about Milken for further reading. The book titled "Payback: The Conspiracy to Destroy Michael Milken and His Financial Revolution" is out of print, but you can pick up a used copy on Amazon.com for less than $5.00. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Rebel Posted October 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 thanks for the lead on that. I have already chosen to research the Sotheby's/Christie's auction house scandal. But i'll have to look into this book and maybe get to change my report to the Milken book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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