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If anyone is unfamiliar with the author, she was one of the first mainstream media authors to be critical on Enron and eventually wrote a book on Enron as well.

by whatok 7y ago

heymijo 7y ago
Ms. McLean has a way of seeing clearly what is right in front of others yet not acknowledged. Then bringing that to our general attention. I heard her doing the podcast rounds last year shining light on the unsustainable business model for hydraulic fracturing to capture natural gas AKA fracking. It's the subject of another book of hers. Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It’s Changing the World https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/saudi-america/ https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/saudi-america/
Shivetya 7y ago
For many Tesla fans it never seemed to make sense that Tesla would buy Solarcity except as a bailout of Solarcity. The loose connection they have with regards to the environment was certainly not sufficient to justify the move.
- gameswithgo 7y ago
  Tesla getting into the solar business makes sense maybe. But not until they have the car thing figured out and stable first, and certainly not buying your cousin's troubled solar company in particular! It was clearly a bad move.
tryitnow 7y ago
Thanks for pointing this out, I wasn't going to read the article at first, but now I will.
olivermarks 7y ago
She wrote 'Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room' subsequently made into an excellent film. I suspect we will be seeing 'Tesla: The Smartest Guys in the Room' soon. It still rankles me that Nicolai Tesla's name is associated with all this.
- mkl 7y ago
  *Nikola
- brandonmenc 7y ago
  > It still rankles me that Nicolai Tesla's name is associated with all this. Why not? He was also an unstable "genius" who couldn't figure out the business side of things. Seems appropriate.
Reedx 7y ago
In fact Bethany McLean was a key player in bringing Enron down - which at the time was named the most admired company in America (6 years in a row!). Virtually no one was questioning their black box of profits. But then a stock investor tipped her off that Enron's numbers didn't make sense. She started investigating and wrote an article, "Is Enron Overpriced?"[1]. That was the first domino. Here's a clip about that from "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room". A fascinating documentary and cautionary tale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaZOIAJJ6Kk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaZOIAJJ6Kk 1) https://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2001/03/05/297833/index.htm https://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archiv...

If anyone is unfamiliar with the author, she was one of the first mainstream media authors to be critical on Enron and eventually wrote a book on Enron as well.

by whatok 7y ago

If anyone is unfamiliar with the author, she was one of the first mainstream media authors to be critical on Enron and eventually wrote a book on Enron as well.

heymijo 7y ago

Ms. McLean has a way of seeing clearly what is right in front of others yet not acknowledged. Then bringing that to our general attention. I heard her doing the podcast rounds last year shining light on the unsustainable business model for hydraulic fracturing to capture natural gas AKA fracking. It's the subject of another book of hers. Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It’s Changing the World https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/saudi-america/ https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/saudi-america/

Shivetya 7y ago

For many Tesla fans it never seemed to make sense that Tesla would buy Solarcity except as a bailout of Solarcity. The loose connection they have with regards to the environment was certainly not sufficient to justify the move.

gameswithgo 7y ago
Tesla getting into the solar business makes sense maybe. But not until they have the car thing figured out and stable first, and certainly not buying your cousin's troubled solar company in particular! It was clearly a bad move.

tryitnow 7y ago

Thanks for pointing this out, I wasn't going to read the article at first, but now I will.

olivermarks 7y ago

She wrote 'Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room' subsequently made into an excellent film. I suspect we will be seeing 'Tesla: The Smartest Guys in the Room' soon. It still rankles me that Nicolai Tesla's name is associated with all this.

mkl 7y ago
*Nikola
brandonmenc 7y ago
> It still rankles me that Nicolai Tesla's name is associated with all this. Why not? He was also an unstable "genius" who couldn't figure out the business side of things. Seems appropriate.

Reedx 7y ago

In fact Bethany McLean was a key player in bringing Enron down - which at the time was named the most admired company in America (6 years in a row!). Virtually no one was questioning their black box of profits. But then a stock investor tipped her off that Enron's numbers didn't make sense. She started investigating and wrote an article, "Is Enron Overpriced?"[1]. That was the first domino. Here's a clip about that from "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room". A fascinating documentary and cautionary tale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaZOIAJJ6Kk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaZOIAJJ6Kk 1) https://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2001/03/05/297833/index.htm https://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archiv...