Enron Capitalism
Feudalism: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.
Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells
you the milk.
Communism: You have two cows. You must take care of them, but the government takes all the
milk.
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 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 that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption
for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred through 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 Enron annual report says the company owns eight
cows, with an option on one more.
|
|
