Enron, and the economy

[Jin]

I'm not too sure if this has been talked about, because I've been gone for a while, but I'll start a new one anyways. :P

Is Enron the beginning of the economic downfall of America? Enron was the 7th biggest corporation in the US only a year ago. The price of a share dropped from more than $50 to $0.25 so quickly that it caused thousands not only their money, but also their retirement plan, and future. All the lies and cover-ups only made the situation worst. How can we be sure that other companies aren't in the same circumstances, and how can we prevent this in the future?

George Bush handled the 9-11 tragedy pretty well, but now another test is heading his way. This will be the determinant of whether his 80% approval rating will remain the same, or plummet like Enron's net worth.

The reason why the world's economy is heading downhill is because of the United States' recession. The majority of powerful nations depend on the United States, including China. Although China is communist, in many ways they act like capitalists. That's why we shouldn't be expecting any attacks by them anytime soon, because without the United States, China's economy would make Argentina's seem respectable.

Recently, the United States gave an airplane to China's top leaders similar to Airforce One. It sounds nice and all, but the United States put voice recorders all over the plane, and they were soon discovered by the Chinese government. Normally this would cause much tension between the two, and could result in a war. It may seem like an over exaggeration, but Mexico and the US almost went to war over one man named Pancho Villa, but other world issues(WWII) changed the United States' focus.

Whether you are a conservative, or liberal, Enron was a HUGE deal. It isn't just a matter about the Republicans being attacked, but pertains to the economy as a whole. Thousands lost large amounts of money, and Americans want to make sure something similar won't happen again. To prevent this the US will probably change things in the private sector. IMO, this is a good thing, because it may prevent similar events from happening again. In a way it's like the new security at airports. It invades our privacy in a way, but may protect us from disasters.

What's your take on the whole situation?

[Fez]

I'm sorta miffed that people like lehmann bowl better then warne. I mean, an outrage hey?

[gekko]

Enron as a corporation ****ed up. They just lied to their employees. It's not a downfall in America, it's not even close. But I think there's a lot more criminal activity going on. A business just doesn't collapse overnight.

As for Bush's approval rating. To make it simple, I can assure you, 3 years before the next election, I won't be voting for Bush. Bush has a 80% approval rating because he tells you what you want to hear. How many people weren't proud to be an American after 9/11? You know who else did that? Hitler.

Americans don't realize all the times Bush is ****ing up, because they're too busy listening to his speeches on how great America is. Do you realize N. Korea is pissed at us? Do you realize they said Bush was close to declaring war? If you don't remember, we lost in Korea. We can't afford to fight a war against them. Hell, if Bush found terrorists in Vietnam he would probably send us there too.

Bush needs to watch his ass. You can't say you're going to go after 10 different countries. Just because a country may have terrorist groups, doesn't mean we can go to war with them. We have terrorist groups in our back yards, but we don't go bombing our own country. There will always be terrorists, eliminate all of them, and new groups will form. Do what you can to take out the main groups, but leave it al that. If Bush doesn't watch his ass, we'll be at war with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, N. Korea, China, and every other country in the world.

This is Vietnam all over again folks. During Vietnam we went in because stopping communism was so important, now we'll go in because stopping terrorism is so important. Watch Bush carefully, because he might be getting us into wars we can't win. And then we won't be the most powerul nation in the world, and god forbid we lose and don't back out, then we could lose something we call 'freedom.'

[Ravishing Rick Rude]

Obviously, George Bush, isn't the sharpest Knife in the drawer.

thus far in speeches, He forgot to mention canada as a close ally to the states. and called the citizens of Pakistan " Packies".

Now, if the leader of the free world can't sum up the braincells to remember a few words.... why is he so gun ho about starting wars???

It baffles the mind i say...

[Revival]

Originally posted by The Ibrox Fox
Obviously, George Bush, isn't the sharpest Knife in the drawer.

thus far in speeches, He forgot to mention canada as a close ally to the states. and called the citizens of Pakistan " Packies".

Now, if the leader of the free world can't sum up the braincells to remember a few words.... why is he so gun ho about starting wars???

It baffles the mind i say...
Marc, move to the US and run for president! :D

[Xantar]

You do know that Marc was born in St. Denis, France, and thus is constitutionaly prohibited from running for the presidency, right?

Now I, on the other hand, was born in Arlington, VA. I could run for president when I turn 35 years old.

There are only a few problems:

1. I want to be a doctor.

2. I hate politics.

3. I have an unshakeable belief in the absolute fallibility of the general public. You can't be a very good president if you believe the public is going to screw everything up the first chance they get.

4. I'm Asian. No, think about it. Do you think we're ever going to have an Asian president anytime soon? Just 40 years ago, the media was making a big deal over the election of a Catholic president (JFK). A black person has a better chance of becoming president (at least Alan Keyes got a few votes).

What I ought to do is go back to Vietnam and take over the government...

[Revival]

Originally posted by Xantar
You do know that Marc was born in St. Denis, France, and thus is constitutionaly prohibited from running for the presidency, right?
Yuppers. I was joking too if you didn't know :D

[gekko]

Originally posted by The Ibrox Fox
Obviously, George Bush, isn't the sharpest Knife in the drawer.

thus far in speeches, He forgot to mention canada as a close ally to the states. and called the citizens of Pakistan " Packies".

Now, if the leader of the free world can't sum up the braincells to remember a few words.... why is he so gun ho about starting wars???

It baffles the mind i say...

It's gung ho. And I don't see Bush's kids running to go enlist, unless they think the Marine Corps still recruits at Tun Tavern :D

[Ric]

Who in the bloody hell are they????
First time I ever heard of them.

[GameKinG]

Enron had poblems a loooong time ago. This was a downfall for them before the economy was going down.

Except the economy was goin down before Sep. 11 anyway...

[sdtPikachu]

Wow, I'm impressed at your post gekko. All we ever hear in the UK is how great the UIS thinks bush is cos he had the supposed intelligence to say "let's bomb the f***ers"... cue massive jump in the opinion polls... quelle suprise...

You're also right about it being a modern Vietnam IMO... and I think Vietnam proved that even the military might of the US can't win a protracted guerilla war against a hidden enemy.

I won't go on another anti-Bush rant, like mentioning things like his abandonment of the Kyoto agreement or his total lack of regard for the constitutional policy of no state sponsored religion being enforced on people. Oh whoops, did I just say that? I said I wasn't going to mention it and now I have. Damn and curse... and oh no! my delete button doesn't work either. What a shame.

Anyway, as far as Enron goes, from the news we hear here, it seems that some of president Blair's mob have been embroiled in the whole caboodle as well... accusations of bribery, corruption and the whole other nine yards run amok whilst Pres. Blair looks a bit red in the face... ach, it's all bollocks.

Basically it looks like Enron did what far too many big businesses do; it got very very big, then it got very very ambitious, and overstretched itself... and what with the drastic downturn in world trade, their shares dropped. When they and their investors realised they couldn't continue with what they'd started, Enron shares suddenly weren't worth the paper they were printed on. But I imagine they tried to keep this as quiet as possible in the hope that a government backhander would slip into their overdraft... which made the truth even more horrible when it broke out.

Just another example of capitalism failing again.

Just as an aside... I wonder how big the severance payments the board of directors get will be? Or how much money they smuggled into offshore accounts once they got wind of the big collapse? And I wonder how much of that money will find it's way into the pockets of those who have lost their pensions, shares and savings.

Oh and Xantar... if you ever do go in for politics, I will never speak to you again. ;)

Plus I think it's more likely America will get an Asian pres than one who's an atheist... not that I'd want to be anyway...