{"product_id":"shortfall-9781620973042","title":"Shortfall","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe rollicking true story of a 1930s version of Bernie Madoff—and the building and loan crash he helped precipitate—in a wonderful work of narrative nonfiction by the Gustavus Myers book award winner\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eShortfall\u003c\/em\u003e opens with a surprise discovery in an attic—boxes filled with letters and documents hidden for more than seventy years—and launches into a fast-paced story that uncovers the dark secrets in Echols's family—an upside-down version of the building and loan story at the center of Frank Capra's 1946 movie, \u003cem\u003eIt's a Wonderful Life\u003c\/em\u003e. In a narrative filled with colorful characters and profound insights into the American past, \u003cem\u003eShortfall\u003c\/em\u003e is also the essential backstory to more recent financial crises, from the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s and 1990s to the subprime collapse of 2008.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eShortfall\u003c\/em\u003e chronicles the collapse of the building and loan industry during the Great Depression—a story told in microcosm through the firestorm that erupted in one hard-hit American city during the early 1930s. Over a six-month period in 1932, all four of the building and loan associations in Colorado Springs, Colorado, crashed in an awful domino-like fashion, leaving some of the town's citizens destitute. The largest of these associations was owned by author Alice Echols's grandfather, Walter Davis, who absconded with millions of dollars in a case that riveted the national media. This book tells the dramatic story of his rise and shocking fall.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Alice Echols","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48283736211707,"sku":"9781620973042","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/9781620973042.jpg?v=1772485492","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/shortfall-9781620973042","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}