Bethany McLean
Bethany McLean
Bethany McLeanis a contributing editor to Vanity Fair magazine, and known for her work on the Enron scandal and the 2008 financial crisis. She had been an editor at large and columnist for Fortune and a contributor to Slate...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEditor
Date of Birth12 December 1970
CountryUnited States of America
jeff ken piece wrote
The worst story I ever wrote was after the conviction of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay. My co-author and I wrote a piece for 'Fortune' saying everything's going to be different now.
attention cap companies complain constantly earning five follow grown last pay percent research small street time tough wall
Small cap companies complain constantly that they are neglected. They have a very tough time getting Wall Street research analysts to follow them, to pay attention to them. There are small companies that will say that I have grown my earning at 20 percent over the last five years and no one will pay attention to me.
bankrupt company enron fault fraud meek nine quite retrospect time
It was actually in retrospect a pretty meek story. It didn't say that the company is a fraud and going to go bankrupt in nine months. In fact, if you had said to me at the time that Enron is going to go under, I'd have said, 'Are you kidding?' It just didn't quite make sense. In retrospect I fault myself for not questioning it more than I did.
argued capital fund needed
Proponents of privatization argued that cities and states needed private capital to fund all the upgrades that our decaying infrastructure so desperately needed.
almost believer fix fixed power provides regulation
I'm not a big believer in the power of more regulation to fix things. I think it can almost be more dangerous because it provides the illusion that things have been fixed without the substance.
bit curtain people practices pulled
Before Enron, I think people were a bit more naive about the way things worked, and I think Enron pulled the curtain back on unsavoury practices that turned out to be a lot more widespread.
good
What's good for the financial industry probably isn't good for you.
capital fountain health holy trust
In capital we trust. Capital is our savior, our holy grail, our fountain of youth, or at least health, for banks.
hard next rightly worries
Google worries - and rightly so - about how hard it is for a big company to come up with the next hot thing.
fixing mac
Fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in isolation, without looking at the big picture, would be short-sighted.
ability access advise banks cities financing market states whether
The big banks advise cities about whether privatization is a wise choice. They also control the ability of states and cities to access the market for their financing needs.
When Warren Buffett invests in a company, he is conferring upon that company something very unique: his credibility.
assets goods highways history public
Privatization of assets that most of us consider public goods - like airports and highways - has a long, often-uncontroversial history.
accounting capital money pile sitting
Capital isn't this pile of money sitting somewhere; it's an accounting construct.