Word: enronization
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...didn't know what they were doing. Credit raters, who claim to offer only opinions, are party to Wall Street's cycles too. At the beginning, they're far too lenient with borrowers, who are the ones who pay their rating fees. Then, after a couple of embarrassments - remember Enron and WorldCom? - the raters tighten up, maybe too much. Then memory fades, and the cycle repeats...
...seen a version of this game before. Enron, PSINet, Trans World Airlines and WorldCom all paid out for naming rights at U.S. sporting arenas before going under earlier this decade. In fact, sponsors of major U.S. sports stadiums lost an average of 33% of their market value in 2002, roughly double the Dow's fall that year...
...high-flying energy company made billions trading esoteric derivatives until insiders blew the whistle on Enron's massive accounting fraud - prompting a bankruptcy filing that rocked the U.S. financial world. The company was instantly devalued and thousands of employees were laid off, their pensions evaporated. Executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were both convicted of fraud and other charges, although Lay died before being sentenced...
...dogma, I usually reach for Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron and its story about a Catholic trying to convert a non-Catholic friend. The friend insists on visiting Rome so he can observe the Holy See himself. This being the 14th century, when church leaders were about as saintly as Enron executives, the Catholic fears that his pal will return home appalled. And so he does - but he declares he's ready to become a Catholic anyway. The reason: he figures any religion that can have that bad a church and still have so many followers must be pretty good...
...current farm bill allows farmers with incomes up to $2.5 million per year to collect federal dollars; in 2001, 73 percent of subsidies went to the largest 10 percent of American farms. Previous recipients of much-needed farm aid have included media mogul Ted Turner and Kenneth Lay of Enron fame. David Rockefeller—one of those Rockefellers—received $554,000 in subsidies from 1995 to 2005, despite his estimated net worth of $2.6 billion. Farmer’s need subsidies almost as much as hedge fund managers do. In an era of gaping budget deficits...