21 January 2002

Systemic failure? Paul Krugman: "The Enron debacle is not just the story of a company that failed; it is the story of a system that failed. And the system didn't fail through carelessness or laziness; it was corrupted." The more that's uncovered about Enron, the smellier it gets. One thing that's notable in the scandal is how few analysts and observers had any clue of what was going on. An exception seems to have been investor activist Bob Monks. His research group, The Corporate Library, gave Enron's board a bottom-of-the-class grade E because of worries about the company's relations with its external auditor. Rather prescient. 9:45:50 AM

Forgotten war I've written before about the largely neglected war in Sudan. Quentin Peel has recently been in Sudan, with the UK's development minister, Clare Short, and his report makes depressing reading. "Sudan is not exactly a failed state, but it is in a desperate plight. It could easily be another Afghanistan if the outside world does not start paying serious attention. All the ingredients are there, except for Osama bin Laden, who was forced to leave in 1996." I was particularly struck by Peel's tale of two Antonovs – the Russian cargo planes – at El Obeid. One is being filled with food supplies for the desperate people of Sudan's south. The other is being filled with bombs, aimed at many of the same people.   9:37:51 AM

© Copyright 2002 Lance Knobel.