Hope you all will see the humor here. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Dave
Subject: Fw: Capitalism, Communism and Enronism
Financial Times; Jan 16, 2002
On the differences between capitalism, communism and
"Enronism":
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.
Communism: You have two cows. Your neighbours help take
care of them and you all share the milk."
"Enronism": 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 exemption 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. You hire Arthur
Andersen to revise your books. The annual report says the
company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.