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Ponzi's Scheme: True Story of a Financial Legend
November 3, 2005
Mitchell Zuckoff professor, journalism, Boston University [homepage]

Mitchell Zuckoff discusses Charles Ponzi's mercurial rise and fall as he conjured up one get-rich-quick scheme after another. Zuckoff reveals how The Boston Post uncovered this "robbing Peter to pay Paul" system (as it was then known), and how Ponzi's life unraveled.

Before Charles Ponzi (1882-1949) sailed from Italy to the shores of America in 1903, his father assured him that the streets were really paved with gold and that Ponzi would be able to get a piece. Ponzi learned as soon as he disembarked that though the streets were often cobblestone, he could still make a fortune in a culture caught in the throes of the Gilded Age.

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Image of Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend
Author: Mitchell Zuckoff
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (2006)
Binding: Paperback, 416 pages
Image of Choosing Naia: A Family's Journey
Author: Mitchell Zuckoff
Publisher: Beacon Press (2003)
Binding: Paperback, 312 pages
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Publisher: Harper Perennial (2004)
Binding: Paperback, 448 pages

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