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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Very juicy stuff here. It nicely conforms to Doug's
discussion of Enron in After the New Economy. Jeet</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/01/eveningnews/main620626.shtml">http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/01/eveningnews/main620626.shtml</A></FONT></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Henwood: “Deregulators like Enron always portray
themselves as vigorous free marketers, but there is nothing invisible about
their hands. They spent millions on lobbying, and worked every level, from
statehouses to the Senate. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">In
1992, when she was chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC),
Wendy Gramm exempted Enron’s trading in electricity futures from oversight.
Enron happened to be a big funder of her husband, Texas Senator Phil Gramm
(another friend of the free market who drew public paychecks almost all his
working life). Six days after that ruling, Gramm left the CFTC, and five weeks
later she joined Enron’s board. In December 2000, Senator Gramm helped push a
bill through Congress that deregulated trading in energy. Enron’s electricity
trading business swelled, and some of the firm’s only real profits were made.
Without owning a single California power plant, Enron came to control the
state’s market. Rolling blackouts became the norm, prices skyrocketed, and the
same state racked up billions in debt. Phil Gramm blamed environmentalists for
the crisis. Finally, price controls were imposed and the bubble burst. Deprived
of its cash cow, Enron hit the rocks a few months
later.”</SPAN></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>