The jury has spoken and they have sent an unmistakable message to boardrooms across the country that you can’t lie to shareholders, you can’t put yourself in front of your employees’ interests, and no matter how rich and powerful you are you have to play by the rules.

— Sean M. Berkowitz, director of the Justice Department Enron Task Force, May 25, 2006

After mounting a 56-day defense costing nearly 70 million dollars, Enron’s Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were found guilty on 25 of a combined 35 counts against them. Mr. Lay was convicted on six counts of fraud and conspiracy and four counts of bank fraud. The jury acquitted Mr. Skilling on nine counts of insider trading and convicted him on 18 counts of fraud and conspiracy and one count of insider trading.

But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
— James 1:10-11 [New International Version]

New York Times reporter Alexei Barrionuevo noted that the complicated cases against the two executives "ended up being simpler than most people envisioned. Mr. Lay, 64, and Mr. Skilling, 52, were found guilty of lying — to investors, employees and regulators — in an effort to disguise the crumbling fortunes of their energy empire."

Outside the courthouse, Mr. Skilling said "Obviously, I’m disappointed. But that’s the way the system works."

Mr. Lay was required to surrender his passport and post a $5 million bond secured by the homes of his wife and three children.

"Certainly, we’re surprised, and it’s probably more accurate to say we’re shocked," Mr. Lay said. "I firmly believe I’m innocent of the charges against me . . . . We believe that God in fact is in control and indeed he does work all things for good for those who love the Lord."

It’s Shakespearean. The CEOs who have gone down are people who literally lost touch with reality. Ken Lay had so internalized the idea of an imperial CEO that he blamed everyone but himself. He could not conceptualize that he should take responsibility.

—Yale law professor Jonathan Macey in the Washington Post

The four-year Department of Justice investigation led to 16 guilty pleas from former Enron executives and four convictions against Merrill Lynch bankers involved in a naively transparent financing scheme. Long before the government’s case was complete, Andrew Leonard spread the blame in an October, 2002 editorial:

…the willingness of investors and analysts and bankers and reporters to go along and get along with Enron has deeper roots. Everyone wanted to believe in Enron’s numbers, because more is better. We don’t live in a society where 10 percent annual growth or 10 percent return on investment is enough. Nothing is ever enough, growth has to be faster, the profits bigger, the windfall larger – and if you declare, like Enron, that your numbers are super-duper better than the best, then everyone’s happy. No one wants to carp, to be a downer on the American dream.

…there were problems at Enron long before disaster overcame it, but no one outside the company bothered to take a close look until Enron ran out of tricks and was forced to declare a large quarterly loss. Then it all fell apart. If Enron had somehow managed to keep afloat, few people would care that Enron’s executives yelled at their employees, slept with their secretaries or moved into really, really big houses. All that stuff is OK as long as you are reporting mind-boggling numbers.

Enron, in fact, is not an isolated case at all. Enron is everywhere. When media companies consolidate, seeking economies of scale at the expense of independence and creativity, it’s because their shareholders are always demanding bigger numbers. That’s Enron. When investment banks "spin" hot IPO stocks to their biggest clients, the goal isn’t to help build a new company, it’s to get 300 percent profits after a few hours of trading. That’s Enron. When all the rules are lifted, and the government encourages businesses to do as they please, because, gosh darn it, regulation really puts a damper on the profit margin, that, more than anything else, is Enron too.

This is what happens when there are too few rules, too weakly enforced. Enron is no metaphor — it is the embodiment of capitalism run amok.

It pains us to see all capitalists painted with the same brush, but there you have it. When greed goes wild, capitalism is no better than your run of the mill kleptocracy. Whether it be royal foolishness of Midas or the tomfoolery of the bumpkins who killed the goose that laid the golden eggs, greed always ends badly (though seldom at a uniform pace).

Some food for thought…

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
—Ephesians 4:17-28 [New International Version]

God save us from the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.