Prime Time for Corporate Crime
By Charlie Cray*
huffingtonpost.com
01.27.2006
The trial of Kenny Boy and Jeff Skilling begins Monday, and the media are lining up like peasants in front of a guillotine.
It ought to bring back fond memories of President's Bush's biggest career patron, "mark to market" mania, Grandma Millie, and thousands of employees whose pensions were locked in as the stock tanked.
Despite the Enron Task Force's diligent preparation, it's not clear Lay will be convicted of anything. Like Bush Sr., the guy claims he was so "out of the loop" that he had no idea Andy Fastow was dumping debt offshore to prop up the stock.
Whatever the truth, it will be a tough case to make, as John Coffee has explained. So for corporate crime afficionados (not to mention those who lost their life savings, who want to see these guys finally put on the gallows) it should be interesting.
As entertaining as a court case about "special purpose entities," structured finance, and "debt-for-equity swaps" can be, that is.
Speaking of entertainment and corporate crime...Has everyone seen "Syriana"? Great flick. And I'm lookng forward to seeing "Why We Fight", too.
Even that Enron movie -- "The Smartest Guys in the Room," was pretty good.
I also can't wait to check out the adaptation of Christopher Buckley's hilarious novel, "Thank You For Smoking," which is the best satire of the PR industry and DC you'll ever read.
With Sundance under way, it seems like a good time for the Corporate Crime Reporter to be releasing its list of the Top 50 Corporate Crime Movies.
The list includes some obvious ones like "The Corporation," "Roger and Me," and "The Insider." And a few others I haven't seen, like "Formula," with Marlon Brando.
Check out the list and then tell me what you think he missed...
corporatecrimereporter.com
I can think of a couple. For example, there's The Fugitive, in which Harrison Ford plays a doctor that uncovers a sinister pharmaceutical company plot (I'm sure the execs at Abbott and Merck loved that one!), and Blade Runner.
On the more obscure side, there are a lot of documentaries out there that are not on the list, like Robert Pappas' not-to-be-missed Orwell Rolls in His Grave and the movie about the Carlyle Group that never got released in the U.S. but which is online.
So, what would make your list, and why?
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*Charlie Cray is the director of the Center for Corporate Policy in Washington, DC. He helped establish Halliburton Watch, and is co-author of The People's Business: Controlling Corporations and Restoring Democracy (Berrett-Koehler), and is a former associate editor of Multinational Monitor magazine. |
