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Pastimes : The California Energy Crisis - Information & Forum
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To: deepenergyfella who started this subject11/19/2001 5:18:02 PM
From: Bearcatbob  Read Replies (1) of 1715
 
How did Enron work - beats me!

EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. The EU commission decides which regulations
for feeding and milking apply. If there aren’t any, they invent some. They pay you not to milk
the cows. They take both cows, shoot one, milk the other and pour the milk down the drain.
They then require you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: The government promises to give you two cows if you vote for it.
After the election, the President is impeached for speculating in cow futures. The press dubs
the affair “cowgate” but supports the President. The cows sue you for breach of contract.
Your legal bills exceed your annual income. You settle out of court and declare bankruptcy.
CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies and the
economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly
listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute
a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so you get all four cows back, with a tax ex-
emption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a
Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to
all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight
cows, with an option on one more.
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