Stanford Financial Group

Allen Stanford, right, was the chairman of Stanford Financial Group. He sits here with his attorney. His college roommate and the company's CFO, James Davis, will testify against him.

A modern gentleman is intrigued by the Stanford Financial Group case, which involves betrayal among longtime friends, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, overseas banks, and a billion-dollar swindle.

Mr. Stanford could have foreseen the result of his actions if financiers were required to read Theodore Dreiser’s The Financier, which is precisely why Americans’ money would be better invested in liberal arts education.