SEVEN

Inappropriate Self-Interest

WHEN ENRON CORPORATION collapsed in 2001, it became an internationally visible symbol of the dangers of excessive self-interest.

Enron, as many readers will recall, created a network of offshore companies whose purpose was to make Enron look more profitable than it actually was. The scheme worked for a while until the company started into a downward spiral and the corporate officers had to work harder and harder to hide the growing difference between actual and reported performance. Finally, it all came apart, the share price collapsed, and, in December 2001, Enron sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Enron debacle caused an enormous outrage, not simply because of the misreporting of profits, but ...

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