Tom Lynch

Charles Ponzi promised a lot of things. Most notably, he promised, if you invested your cash with his company, he would provide nearly a 50 percent return in ninety days, clobbering the interest rates of typical banks. How? Using the inconsistencies between the currencies of U.S. and foreign countries, taking advantage of the exchange rates, getting rich quick in the postage business. It was Boston in the early 1920s, and Ponzi had convinced the public to trust him. He didn't have room in his office for all the cash that came in. Of course it didn't work. Boston author Mitchell Zuckoff's nonfiction journey through the creation of the Ponzi Scheme, appropriately titled "Ponzi's Scheme," is told with such fluidity that it makes money endlessly fascinating and the pursuit the same. Ponzi was always under investigation--though the authorities couldn't pinpoint necessarily what was illegal about Ponzi's operation. It was a classic pyramid scheme. Everyone was duped.

Mitchell Zuckoff discusses "Ponzi's Scheme" on March 29 at Harold Washington Library Center, 400 South State St., (312)747-4300, at 5:30pm. Free.

(2005-03-22)

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