Since the first edition of this work, the number and severity of white collar crimes has risen to such a level that many experts attribute the near-Depression of 2008 to white-collar malfeasance, i.e. crimes of greed and excess by bankers and financial institutions which came close to collapsing the U.S. economy. Since the first edition there have also been the largest Ponzi scheme in history (Madoff), an ecological disaster caused by BP and its subcontractors (Gulf Oil Spill), and U.S. Defense Department contractors operating like vigilantes in Iraq (Blackwater).