When the S&L crisis finally boiled over, one-quarter of the Savings and Loan Associations in the country were already insolvent, and the losses embedded in the long-standing insurance guarantees were at least $100 billion. This book shows that serious problems had plagued the industry for 20 before the crisis, and the information was there to signal that trouble was brewing. It also shows that perverse incentives in the system made it worthwhile for financially weak S&Ls, the federal deposit insurers, the regulators, and the Congress to ignore the danger signs?everyone, in fact, except the taxpayers who had to foot the bill.