Introduction

Today’s book is an almost anthropological examination of the nature of corporate scandal:

Why do values go awry?

What happens when the wrong person gets a big job?

Why is it so tempting to post false profits instead of telling the truth?

How distorting is the prospect of stock market riches?

In retrospect, Enron did not conceal their dubious transactions from the investing public, but Enron’s brass didn’t go out of their way to point them out, but for anyone willing to wade through the company’s financial documents, the numbers were clear.

We are joined today by a brilliant journalist who did that work, who asked the questions others did not, and whose work would expose one of the biggest scams of all time.

We welcome the author of “The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron”, Bethany McLean