Risky Business Revisited: White-Collar Crime and the Orange County Bankruptcy
Orange County's bankruptcy is the largest governmental bankruptcy in U.S. history. Initial reports blamed the county's financial difficulties on the county treasurer's gambling with taxpayer dollars in the high-risk derivative market. This article forwards the argument that it was not simply “risky business” that caused the bankruptcy; rather, fraud and other forms of white-collar crime played a significant role in the $2 billion debacle. Using concepts and theories from the literature on white-collar crime and drawing comparisons with other financial scandals, most notably the savings and loan crisis, the authors argue that the financial downfall of Orange County was due to a “criminogenic environment” that allowed for concerted ignorance among officials who were motivated by a fear of falling from their positions of power.