WASHINGTON -- With the rubble still smoldering from Enron's bankruptcy, the U.S. Congress is attempting to score points by interrogating the international energy company's managers. Former CEO Jeffrey Skilling faced rough going before a congressional hearing; only by invoking the Fifth Amendment did former board chairman Kenneth Lay escape similar treatment.
It is great theater. The primary lesson that some would learn is that deregulation has failed, business must be closely controlled, and only government can protect the public. Yet the scandal reflects the failure of human beings, not markets. It is neither the first time, nor will it be the last, when greedy, sinful human beings have defrauded their neighbors. Most impressive is not the harm resulting from Enron's collapse, but how minimal the impact.
Enron began in only 1989 and quickly became a pioneer in a changing market, brokering the sale of power as utilities lost their local monopolies. Like most businesses, its loyalty was always to profit, not principle.