American Greed, part 3

This news story will probably go unnoticed by most americans but should be on the front page in order to provoke the most outrage and get people to start caring.

On its own, the news is not very noteworthy but in the context of Ken Lay and Enron as a cultural phenomenon, not an aberration, it is important. That his name could be cleared and he is declared innocent is not just a perversion of justice but an insult to decency. There are many people who have declared him innocent despite the conviction (see the previous post), having him officially cleared would only encourage the sort of greed that he exemplified.

In other news, I have recently taken to reading the NYT sunday business section. I scan the headlines, read Ben Stein's column and read whatever interests me. They seem to have an article every week on runaway executive compensation which is either a sign of obsession on their part or of a serious problem in our society. I think a little bit of the former, a lot of the latter is about right. This week's perp was the ceo of InfoUSA who was playing fast and loose with options and is being investigated for it. Among his "perks" was having his yacht, his various homes and luxury cars underwritten by the company. I guess if you're only a millionare but want to live like a billionare, you just get the shareholders to pick up the slack. Asshole.