Overview

In analyzing the fraud-facilitated leveraged buyouts engineered by Michael Milken and the firm of Drexel Burnham Lambert, the author suggests that such buyouts have multiple and extensive consequences for the organization of business and the economy. Zey also demonstrates how ordinary bond trading networks were linked to the extraordinary networks of the Boesky Organizations and Employee Private Partnerships in order to defraud bond issuers and buyers. This book debunks the myth of rational economic organization in the 1980s and establishes broad implications for theories of organizational deviance.

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9780202304663

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Reviews

No short review can do justice to a book that includes such as extensive account of events and the author's theorizing about the exercise of power in corporations. --C. Lowell Harriss, Political Science Quarterly Mary Zey has given us an exhaustively researched and well-written book on the activites of Michael Milken, his firm Drexel Burnham, and the network of associates that helped Milken create the junk bond market that fueled the mergers and acquisitions craze of the 1980s. Zey's main argument is that fraud is socially embedded and that Milken was only able to commit the acts he did (both fraudulent and nonfraudulent) with the help of an entire network of friends, most notably financier Ivan Boesky. Zey carefully and systematically shows hoe Milken activated these networks whenever a major deal was in danger of falling through. . . . But the book is not just about Milken and his ambitions, it is also about the entire era of the 1980s, the creation and collapse of the junk bond market, the connection between junk bonds and the savings and loan crisis, and the political access of Milken. Drexel, and other powerful financiers. . . . Zey skillfully connects the specific aspects of Milken's actions to a wide array of sociological and economic theories. --Kevin J. Delaney, American Journal of Sociology Zey weaves a fascinating story of power and intrigue with a sociological analysis. . . . Zey does a wonderful job of presenting her evidence to develop a persuasive case for a structural explanation of a most remarkable story. . . . Zey writes in a clear, engaging style about one of the most important turning points in the U.S. economy, striking a balance between the story and the theory. --Davita Selfen Glasberg, Contemporary Sociology

No short review can do justice to a book that includes such as extensive account of events and the author's theorizing about the exercise of power in corporations. </p> --C. Lowell Harriss, <em>Political Science Quarterly</em></p> Mary Zey has given us an exhaustively researched and well-written book on the activites of Michael Milken, his firm Drexel Burnham, and the network of associates that helped Milken create the junk bond market that fueled the mergers and acquisitions craze of the 1980s. Zey's main argument is that fraud is socially embedded and that Milken was only able to commit the acts he did (both fraudulent and nonfraudulent) with the help of an entire network of friends, most notably financier Ivan Boesky. Zey carefully and systematically shows hoe Milken activated these networks whenever a major deal was in danger of falling through. . . . But the book is not just about Milken and his ambitions, it is also about the entire era of the 1980s, the creation and collapse of the junk bond market, the connection between junk bonds and the savings and loan crisis, and the political access of Milken. Drexel, and other powerful financiers. . . . Zey skillfully connects the specific aspects of Milken's actions to a wide array of sociological and economic theories.</p> --Kevin J. Delaney, <em>American Journal of Sociology</em></p> Zey weaves a fascinating story of power and intrigue with a sociological analysis. . . . Zey does a wonderful job of presenting her evidence to develop a persuasive case for a structural explanation of a most remarkable story. . . . Zey writes in a clear, engaging style about one of the most important turning points in the U.S. economy, striking a balance between the story and the theory. </p> --Davita Selfen Glasberg, <em>Contemporary Sociology</em></p> </p>

Author Information

Mary Zey is Professor of Sociology and past Head of the department of Sociology at Texas A&M University where she teaches and conducts research on Complex Organizations. She has studies such organizations as universities, voluntary organizations, and corporations. Her research is focused on the transformation of corporate control, mergers and acquisitions, and organizational crime.

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