Perhaps the most obvious and simplest
answer to Enron’s behavior is that-&dquo;It was all
about the money!&dquo; This is, by no means, a novel
thesis. Money, greed, the pursuit of excess
profits, power, and stuff have always been part
of the human repertoire of options. As Alan
Greenspan has pointed out: &dquo;It is not that
humans have become any more greedy than in
generations past. It is that the avenues to express
greed had grown enormously.&dquo;5
It’s important to keep in mind that Enron
achieved its success in the midst of the boomdays
and market euphoria of the Clinton
Administration. Everyone expected to make
money. Everyone was making money. Enron
was making more money than anyone. And
apparently, although the full extent of Enron’s
collective as well as individual-employee
culpability is yet to be fully determined, many of
the folks at Enron seemed to be willing to do