1.
Charles Dickens
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Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the worlds best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era and his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity, born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors prison. Dickenss literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers, within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the publication of narrative fiction. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audiences reaction, and he modified his plot. For example, when his wifes chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities and his plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the poor chipped in hapennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age and his 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also adapted, and, like many of his novels. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London, Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of depth, loose writing. The term Dickensian is used to something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport in Portsea Island and his father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam, rigger to His Majestys Navy, gentleman, Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickenss eponymous Dombey and Son. In January 1815 John Dickens was called back to London, when Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness, and thence to Chatham, Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he himself a very small. Charles spent time outdoors but also read voraciously, including the novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding, as well as Robinson Crusoe
2.
Martin Chuzzlewit
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The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844, Dickens thought it to be his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels. Like nearly all of Dickens novels, Martin Chuzzlewit was released to the public in monthly instalments, early sales of the monthly parts were disappointing, compared to previous works, so Dickens changed the plot to send the title character to America. This allowed the author to portray the United States satirically as a wilderness with pockets of civilisation filled with deceptive. The main theme of the novel, according to a preface by Dickens, is selfishness, the novel is also notable for two of Dickens great villains, Seth Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit. It is dedicated to Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, a friend of Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit has been raised by his grandfather and namesake. Years before, Martin senior took the precaution of raising an orphaned girl and she is to be his nursemaid, with the understanding that she will be well cared for only as long as Martin senior lives. She thus has strong motivation to promote his well-being, in contrast to his relatives, however, his grandson Martin falls in love with Mary and wishes to marry her, ruining Martin seniors plans. When Martin refuses to give up the engagement, his grandfather disinherits him, Martin becomes an apprentice to Seth Pecksniff, a greedy architect. Instead of teaching his students, he lives off their tuition fees and has them do draughting work that he passes off as his own and he has two spoiled daughters, nicknamed Cherry and Merry, having been christened as Charity and Mercy. Unbeknown to Martin, Pecksniff has actually taken him on to establish ties with the wealthy grandfather. Young Martin befriends Tom Pinch, a soul whose late grandmother had given Pecksniff all she had, believing Pecksniff would make an architect. Pinch is incapable of believing any of the bad things others tell him of Pecksniff, Pinch works for exploitatively low wages, while believing he is the unworthy recipient of Pecksniffs charity. When Martin senior hears of his grandsons new life, he demands that Pecksniff kick young Martin out, then, Martin senior moves in and falls under Pecksniffs control. During this time, Pinch falls in love with Mary, but does not declare it, one of Martin seniors greedy relatives is his brother, Anthony Chuzzlewit, who is in business with his son, Jonas. Despite considerable wealth, they live miserly, cruel lives, with Jonas constantly berating his father, eager for the old man to die so he can inherit, Anthony dies abruptly and under suspicious circumstances, leaving his wealth to Jonas. Jonas then woos Cherry, whilst arguing constantly with Merry, Jonas, meanwhile, becomes entangled with the unscrupulous Montague Tigg and joins in his pyramid scheme-like insurance scam. At the beginning of the book he is a petty thief and hanger-on of a Chuzzlewit relative, Tigg cheats young Martin out of a valuable pocket watch and uses the funds to transform himself into a seemingly fine man called Tigg Montague
3.
Bank run
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When they transfer funds to another institution it may be characterised as a capital flight. As a bank run progresses, it generates its own momentum, as more people withdraw cash and this can destabilize the bank to the point where it runs out of cash and thus faces sudden bankruptcy. A systemic banking crisis is one where all or almost all of the capital in a country is wiped out. The resulting chain of bankruptcies can cause an economic recession as domestic businesses. According to former U. S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, the Great Depression was caused by the Federal Reserve System, and much of the economic damage was caused directly by bank runs. The cost of cleaning up a banking crisis can be huge, with fiscal costs averaging 13% of GDP. Several techniques have been used to try to prevent bank runs or mitigate their effects. S, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and after a run has started, a temporary suspension of withdrawals. These techniques do not always work, for example, even with deposit insurance, Bank runs first appeared as part of cycles of credit expansion and its subsequent contraction. In the 16th century onwards, English goldsmiths issuing promissory notes suffered severe failures due to bad harvests, plummeting parts of the country into famine and unrest. Other examples are the Dutch Tulip manias, the British South Sea Bubble, the French Mississippi Company, the post-Napoleonic depression, Bank runs have also been used to blackmail individuals or governments. In 1832, for example, the British government under the Duke of Wellington overturned a majority government on the orders of the king, William IV, to prevent reform. Wellesleys actions angered reformers, and they threatened a run on the banks under the rallying cry Stop the Duke, many of the recessions in the United States were caused by banking panics. The Great Depression contained several banking crises consisting of runs on multiple banks from 1929 to 1933, in December, New York City experienced massive bank runs that were contained to the many branches of a single bank. Philadelphia was hit a week later by bank runs that affected several banks, but were contained by quick action by the leading city banks. Withdrawals became worse after financial conglomerates in New York and Los Angeles failed in prominently-covered scandals, much of the US Depressions economic damage was caused directly by bank runs, though Canada had no bank runs during this same era due to different banking regulations. Bank runs continued to plague the United States for the several years. City-wide runs hit Boston, Chicago, Toledo, and St. Louis, among others. Institutions put into place during the Depression have prevented runs on U. S. commercial banks since the 1930s, even under such as the U. S. savings
4.
Tulip mania
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Tulip mania or tulipomania was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed. At the peak of tulip mania, in March 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the income of a skilled craftsworker. The term tulip mania is now often used metaphorically to refer to any large economic bubble when asset prices deviate from intrinsic values, the 1637 event was popularized in 1841 by the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, written by British journalist Charles Mackay. According to Mackay, at one point 12 acres of land were offered for a Semper Augustus bulb, Mackay claims that many such investors were ruined by the fall in prices, and Dutch commerce suffered a severe shock. Although Mackays book is a classic, his account is contested, many modern scholars feel that the mania was not as extraordinary as Mackay described and argue that not enough price data are available to prove that a tulip bulb bubble actually occurred. Research is difficult because of the economic data from the 1630s—much of which come from biased. Some modern economists have proposed rational explanations, rather than a speculative mania, for the rise, for example, other flowers, such as the hyacinth, also had high initial prices at the time of their introduction, which immediately fell. The high asset prices may also have driven by expectations of a parliamentary decree that contracts could be voided for a small cost—thus lowering the risk to buyers. Tulip bulbs were soon distributed from Vienna to Augsburg, Antwerp and he planted his collection of tulip bulbs and found they were able to tolerate the harsher conditions of the Low Countries, shortly thereafter the tulip began to grow in popularity. The tulip was different from other flower known to Europe at that time. The appearance of the tulip as a status symbol at this time coincides with the rise of newly independent Hollands trade fortunes. No longer the Spanish Netherlands, its resources could now be channeled into commerce. Amsterdam merchants were at the center of the lucrative East Indies trade, as a result, tulips rapidly became a coveted luxury item, and a profusion of varieties followed. They were classified in groups, the tulips of red, yellow, or white were known as Couleren, the multicolored Rosen, Violetten, and the rarest of all. The multicolor effects of intricate lines and flame-like streaks on the petals were vivid and spectacular, growers named their new varieties with exalted titles. Many early forms were prefixed Admirael, often combined with the growers names, generael was another prefix used for around thirty varieties. Later varieties were given even more extravagant names, derived from Alexander the Great or Scipio, or even Admiral of Admirals, however, naming could be haphazard and varieties highly variable in quality. Most of these varieties have now died out, tulips grow from bulbs, and can be propagated through both seeds and buds
5.
Black Friday (1869)
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The Black Friday, September 24,1869, gold panic was caused by the efforts of two speculators, Jay Gould and his partner James Fisk, to corner the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange. The scandal took place during the Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant whose policy was to sell weekly Treasury gold to pay off the debt, stabilize the dollar. The country had gone through tremendous upheaval during the Civil War and was not yet fully restored and this period, known as the Gilded Age, was a time of great industrial growth which invited much investment and speculation. Gould and Fisk used their personal appearances with Grant to gain clout on Wall Street, at the same time, Gould and Fisk began buying gold at Goulds New York Gold Room raising the price of gold. A panic on Wall Street ensued and the country went through a few months of economic turmoil, thanks to the efforts of Grant, members of his administration and others a national depression was averted. Gould and Fisk, having hired the best defense, and favored by Tweed Ring judges, an 1870 government investigation, headed by James A. Garfield, exonerated Grant of any illicit involvement in the conspiracy. It was generally believed that the U. S. Government would ultimately redeem the greenbacks with gold, Grant believed that putting sound money back into circulation was the best approach to restoring the economy. Grant put in charge of the U. S. Treasury the talented George S. Boutwell whose primary task was to reduce the national debt, to accomplish this Boutwell, in April, ordered his assistant treasurer to sell gold from the Treasury and buy up wartime bonds. He also initiated reforms in the Treasury Department by improving methods of tax collecting and attacking the problem of counterfeiting, by the end of May the national debt had been reduced by $12 million. Boutwells treasury policy of reducing the national debt kept the supply level. The purpose of Grants fiscal policy was to reduce the amount of greenbacks in the economy, Gould bribed Butterfield with a $10,000 check, more than Butterfields annual salary of $8,000. Butterfield agreed to tip the men off when the government intended to sell gold, Gould and Fisk then recruited Grants brother-in-law, a financier named Abel Corbin who had married Grants younger sister Jennie. Corbin was considered a smooth talker and had made money speculating in real estate and they used Corbins relationship to get close to Grant in social situations, where they would argue against government sale of gold, and Corbin would support their arguments. Not accustomed to having such offers turned down, Gould went ahead and made the purchase, when Porter was informed of Goulds unauthorized transaction he refused the offer in writing. In similar fashion Corbin approached Grants wife Julia and attempted to entice her into accepting half interest in $250,000 in bonds, but she turned that offer down. Gould secured owning interest in the federally audited New Yorks Tenth National Bank, in addition to meeting at Corbins mansion home, Fisk and Gould also talked with Grant on their Erie Canal railroad car and in Fisks box seats at New Yorks Fifth Avenue Theatre. When Gould planted an idea in Grant that if gold prices increased, it would lower the dollar, both Grant and Boutwell strongly felt that the nations war time debt had to be paid to assure the credibility of the United States in the eyes of the European banks. To accomplish this Boutwell began selling gold from the Treasurys reserve of $100 million specie, without the Presidents consent, Boutwells controversial approach was endorsed by Grant, giving Boutwell all the latitude he needed
6.
United States Postal Inspection Service
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The United States Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. Its jurisdiction is defined as crimes that may affect or fraudulently use the U. S. Mail. In fiscal year 2014, USPIS had 2,376 field employees, in 2008, the U. S. Postal Inspection Service had 2,288 full-time personnel with the authority to make arrests and carry firearms on duty. This represented a 23. 1% drop over the five years. The Postal Inspection Service has the oldest origins of any law enforcement agency in the United States. It traces its roots back to 1772 when colonial Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin first appointed a surveyor to regulate, thus, the Services origins—in part—predate the Declaration of Independence, and therefore the United States itself. As Franklin was Postmaster under the Continental Congress and was George Washingtons first Postmaster, in 1801, the title of surveyor was changed to Special Agent. In 1830, the Special Agents were organized into the Office of Instructions, the Postal Inspection Service was the first federal law enforcement agency to use the title Special Agent for its officers. Congress changed this title to Inspector in 1880, for some time, one of their primary duties was the enforcement of obscenity prohibitions under the Comstock Act. As fact-finding and investigative agents, Postal Inspectors are sworn law enforcement officers who carry firearms, make arrests and serve federal search warrants. Inspectors work closely with U. S. Attorneys, other law enforcement agencies, the USPIS has responsibility to safeguard over 600,000 Postal Service employees and billions of pieces of mail transported worldwide yearly by air, land, rail and sea. The USPS OIG conducts independent audits and investigations, Audits of postal programs and operations help to determine whether the programs and operations are efficient and cost-effective. Investigations help prevent and detect fraud, waste, and misconduct and have a deterrent effect on postal crimes, the OIG primarily took over the Postal Inspection Services audit function, as well as fraud waste and abuse. Since the September 11,2001, attacks, the USPIS has also investigated several cases where ricin, anthrax, mcGee is credited with assisting in the conviction of former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner on mail fraud charges. This function also investigates robberies of postal employees and postal facilities, burglaries of postal facilities and this investigative function focuses on ensuring that the sanctity and trust in the U. S. The laundering of narcotics and other criminal proceeds through the use of Postal Money Orders is sometimes categorized under this investigative function, security Audits are conducted by these teams to ensure that postal service maintains facilities secure from not only theft and robberies but also natural and manmade disasters. USPIS maintains investigators in the US and in posts around the world for protection, liaison, joint Task Force Investigations, USPIS participates in joint task force investigations where laws applicable to the mail service are involved. These cases are often wide ranging and involve every law enforcement agency of the Federal Government, the U. S. Postal Inspection Service first established a crime lab in 1940
7.
Financial Times
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The Financial Times is an English-language international daily newspaper with a special emphasis on business and economic news. The paper, published and owned by Nikkei Inc. in Tokyo, was founded in 1888 by James Sheridan and Horatio Bottomley, and merged in 1945 with its closest rival, the Financial Times has an average daily readership of 2.2 million people worldwide. FT. com has 4.5 million registered users and over 285,000 digital subscribers, FT Chinese has more than 1.7 million registered users. The world editions of the Financial Times newspaper had an average daily circulation of 234,193 copies in January 2014. In February 2014 the combined sale of the editions of the Financial Times was 224,000 copies. In October 2013 the combined print and digital circulation of the Financial Times reached nearly 629,000 copies. In December 2016 print sales for the paper stood at 193,211, on 23 July 2015 Nikkei Inc. agreed to buy the Financial Times from Pearson for £844m. On 30 November 2015 Nikkei completed the acquisition, the FT was launched as the London Financial Guide on 10 January 1888, renaming itself the Financial Times on 13 February the same year. Describing itself as the friend of The Honest Financier, the Bona Fide Investor, the Respectable Broker, the Genuine Director, the readership was the financial community of the City of London, its only rival being the slightly older and more daring Financial News. After 57 years of rivalry the Financial Times and the Financial News were merged in 1945 by Brendan Bracken to form a single six-page newspaper, the Financial Times brought a higher circulation while the Financial News provided much of the editorial talent. The Lex column was introduced from Financial News. Pearson bought the paper in 1957, over the years the paper grew in size, readership and breadth of coverage. It established correspondents in cities around the world, reflecting early moves in the economy towards globalisation. On 1 January 1979 the first FT was printed outside the UK, since then, with increased international coverage, the FT has become a global newspaper, printed in 22 locations with five international editions to serve the UK, continental Europe, the U. S. The European edition is distributed in continental Europe and Africa and it is printed Monday to Saturday at five centres across Europe reporting on matters concerning the European Union, the Euro and European corporate affairs. In 1994 FT launched a lifestyle magazine, How To Spend It. In 2009 it launched a website for the magazine. On 13 May 1995 the Financial Times group made its first foray into the world with the launch of FT. com
8.
Real estate bubble
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A real estate bubble or property bubble is a type of economic bubble that occurs periodically in local or global real estate markets, typically following a land boom. A land boom is the increase in the market price of real property such as housing until they reach unsustainable levels. The financial crisis of 2007–08 was related to the bursting of real estate bubbles which had begun during the 2000s around the world, Bubbles in housing markets are more critical than stock market bubbles. Historically, equity price busts occur on average every 13 years, lasts for 2.5 years, Housing price busts are less frequent, but last nearly twice as long and lead to output losses that are twice as large. A recent laboratory experimental study also shows that, compared to financial markets, real estate markets involve longer boom, as with all types of economic bubbles, disagreement exists over whether or not a real estate bubble can be identified or predicted, then perhaps prevented. Speculative bubbles are persistent, systematic and increasing deviations of actual prices from their fundamental values, Bubbles can often be hard to identify, even after the fact, due to difficulty in accurately estimating intrinsic values. In real estate, fundamentals can be estimated from rental yields or based on a regression of actual prices on a set of demand and/or supply variables. Some argue further that governments and central banks can and should take action to prevent bubbles from forming, within mainstream economics, economic bubbles, and in particular real estate bubbles, are not considered major concerns. Within some schools of economics, by contrast, real estate bubbles are considered of critical importance. The pre-dominating economic perspective is that economic bubbles result in a temporary boost in wealth, when prices increase, there is a positive wealth effect, and when they decline, there is a negative wealth effect. These effects can be smoothed by counter-cyclical monetary and fiscal policies, the ultimate effect on owners who bought before the bubble formed and did not sell is zero. Those who bought low and sold high profited, whereas those who bought high. This redistribution of wealth is of little macroeconomic significance and these are then argued to cause financial and hence economic crises. This is first argued empirically – numerous real estate bubbles have been followed by economic slumps, when the bubble bursts, the value of the property decreases but not the level of debt. The burden of repaying or defaulting on the loan depresses aggregate demand, it is argued, the crash of the Japanese asset price bubble from 1990 on has been very damaging to the Japanese economy. The crash in 2005 affected Shanghai, Chinas largest city, in comparison to the stock market bubbles, real estate bubbles take longer to deflate, prices decline slower because the real estate market is less liquid. Therefore, this focuses on housing bubbles and mentions other sectors only when their situation differs. Then U. S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in mid-2005 that at a minimum, the Economist magazine, writing at the same time, went further, saying the worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history
9.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
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The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission is an independent agency of the United States federal government. The SEC was created by Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the SEC has a three-part mission, to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. To achieve its mandate, the SEC enforces the requirement that public companies submit quarterly and annual reports. MD&A will usually touch on the upcoming year, outlining future goals. In an attempt to level the field for all investors. Quarterly and semiannual reports from companies are crucial for investors to make sound decisions when investing in the capital markets. Unlike banking, investment in the markets is not guaranteed by the federal government. The potential for big gains needs to be weighed against that of sizable losses, the SEC makes reports available to the public through the EDGAR system. The SEC also offers publications on investment-related topics for public education, the same online system also takes tips and complaints from investors to help the SEC track down violators of the securities laws. The SEC adheres to a policy of never commenting on the existence or status of an ongoing investigation. Prior to the enactment of the securities laws and the creation of the SEC. They were enacted and enforced at the level, and regulated the offering. Though the specific provisions of these laws varied among states, they all required the registration of all offerings and sales, as well as of every U. S. stockbroker. However, these blue sky laws were found to be ineffective. For example, the Investment Bankers Association told its members as early as 1915 that they could ignore blue sky laws by making securities offerings across state lines through the mail. After holding hearings on abuses on interstate frauds, Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933, the subsequent Securities Exchange Act of 1934 regulates sales of securities in the secondary market. The Securities Act of 1933 is also known as the Truth in Securities Act and its goal was to increase public trust in the capital markets by requiring uniform disclosure of information about public securities offerings. For the first year of the enactment, the enforcement of the statute rested with the Federal Trade Commission
10.
Little Dorrit
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Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. It satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, the prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickenss own father had been imprisoned. In addition he satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system, Little Dorrit was published in nineteen monthly instalments, each consisting of 32 pages with two illustrations by Hablot Knight Browne whose pen name was Phiz. Each instalment cost a shilling except for the last, an issue which cost two shillings. Arthur Clennam is returning to London to see his mother after the death of his father, with whom he had lived for twenty years in China. On his deathbed, his father had him a mysterious watch murmuring Your mother, which Arthur naturally assumed was intended for Mrs. Clennam. Inside the watch casing was an old paper with the initials DNF worked into it in beads. It was a message, but when Arthur showed it to the harsh and implacable Mrs Clennam, a fanatic, she refused to tell him what it meant. Little Dorrit, devoted to her father, has been supporting them both through her sewing, once in London, Arthur is reacquainted with his former fiancée Flora Finching, who is now overweight and simpering. His supposed mother, Mrs Clennam, though arthritic and wheelchair-bound, still runs the business with the help of her servant Jeremiah Flintwinch. When Arthur learns that Mrs Clennam has employed Little Dorrit as a seamstress, showing her unusual kindness, suspecting his mother was partially responsible for the misfortunes of the Dorrits, Arthur follows the girl to the Marshalsea. He vainly tries to inquire about William Dorrits debt in the poorly run Circumlocution Office, assuming the role of benefactor towards Little Dorrit, her father, and her brother. While at the Circumlocution Office he meets the struggling inventor Daniel Doyce, the grateful Little Dorrit falls in love with Arthur, but Arthur fails to recognise Little Dorrits interest. At last, aided by the indefatigable rent-collector Pancks, Arthur discovers that William Dorrit is the lost heir to a large fortune, the newly freed Dorrit decides that they should tour Europe as a newly respectable family. They travel over the Alps and take up residence for a time in Venice, eventually, after a spell of delirium, William Dorrit dies as does his distraught brother Frederick, a kind-hearted musician who has always stood by him. Little Dorrit, left alone, returns to London to stay with newly married Fanny and her husband, the foppish Edmund Sparkler. The fraudulent dealings of Edmund Sparklers stepfather, Mr. Merdle, end with Merdles suicide and the collapse of his bank business, Clennam is now himself imprisoned in the Marshalsea, where he becomes ill and is nursed back to health by Amy. The French villain Rigaud, now in London, discovers that Mrs. Clennam has been hiding the fact that Arthur is not her real son, the latter insisted on bringing up little Arthur and denying his mother the right to see him
11.
Hustle (TV series)
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Hustle is a British television drama series made by Kudos Film and Television and broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom. The eighth and last series ended on 17 February 2012, Hustle was largely born from the same production team that created and popularised the early series of Spooks, a similarly-styled drama series first broadcast in 2002. Bharat Nalluri, that series Executive Director, conceived the idea in early 2002 while filming for the first Spooks series was ongoing, intrigued by the idea, Featherstone recruited Tony Jordan, the lead scriptwriter of the soap opera EastEnders, to develop it into a workable proposal. Jordan quickly produced some initial script drafts, which Featherstone took to the BBC, Gareth Neame, Head of Drama Commissioning, Featherstone assembled a production team that had considerable overlap with the Spooks crew, including Simon Crawford Collins as producer and Matthew Graham as co-writer. In creating the first episodes, Jordan drew inspiration from the tradition of confidence tricks and heists in Hollywood and television, including The A-Team, The Sting. With Hustle greenlit for filming, the team began searching for actors to play both the main characters and the marks for each episode. The process was quite difficult, Crawford described his immediate thought this is so good. Tony had created incredibly strong characters, each with their own style and panache. Robert Vaughn, the Academy Award-nominated star of The Man from U. N. C. L. E. was soon suggested as a choice to play Albert Stroller. After meeting Vaughn over lunch, Crawford straight away that he could bring a new dimension to the part of Albert. Vaughn was immediately offered the role, and asked to begin filming the following day, jordans script called for a group of five con artists or grifters, with a wide range of ages, appearances and experience. Although having numerous credits in film and on the stage, Lester was a face in television. Lester explained that he couldnt imagine playing the character for years. In the very first rehearsal we were doing a routine and then the next thing I know Im whacking out several different accents and I just thought, Im in heaven. Jaime Murray completed the lead actors, playing Stacie Monroe who, so when I watched some of it on tape I was totally amazed that you couldnt see how frightened I really was. I kept thinking, Oh my God, Im working with Adrian Lester and Robert Vaughn. Any time now someone is going to tap me on the shoulder and ask me to get my coat. In addition to the actors, the production team recruited a number of actors, both major and minor, to play the marks in each episode, including David Haig, Tamzin Outhwaite
