Michel is a masterful storyteller who grips readers with truthful and disturbing accounts of outlandish schemes ... This eye-opening and comprehensive analysis explains how global criminals anonymously hide ill-gotten money all over the United States and then clean and legitimize these funds ... Recommended for general readers who want to understand how kleptocracy is rooted in American politics and policy-making.
Michel’s clear prose helps make a complicated subject comprehensible, and leaves readers with some hope that financial corruption may not be so inevitable after all.
[A] blistering account ... Through rigorous research and cogent prose, Michel builds a persuasive case that the influx of unregulated money decimates America’s industrial regions and poses a grave threat to democracy. This is a stunning portrait of avarice run amok.
Revealing ... Michel’s diligent dissection is maddening to read, all the more so when he recounts how nonprofits and universities flock to accept dirty money in exchange for bestowing legitimacy on donors ... A capable, eye-opening account of laissez faire financial laws and practices that serve the interest of criminals alone.