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Jury votes on the Enron era

Yes, we have all now read that Lay and Skilling were found guilty after a trial lasting 16 weeks. To anyone who followed the evidence, it is hard to believe that either man could have thought, reasonably or otherwise, that a jury would accept that everyone else at Enron was responsible for the collapse of the company - and even more importantly, that they didn't know what was going on.

One quick question! Where does the buck stop if not with the chiefs? - or were these 2 fellows asleep at the wheel?

The NY Times has an interesting analysis of the case and the era which saw an Enron-type company with all its arrogance, recklessness and greed :

"The Enron case will forever stand as the ultimate reflection of an era of near madness in finance, a time in the late 1990's when self-certitude and spin became a substitute for financial analysis and coherent business models. Controls broke down and management deteriorated as arrogance overrode careful judgment, allowing senior executives to blithely push aside their critics."

Read the complete analysis here. Remember, too, that hubris by some is always around in the market. It will certainly not have passed with the demise of Enron or its carbon-copies, whether in the US or Australia.

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