But the most important thing is, Enron did not cause the California crisis.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
So it was flawed in that it didn't require California to have a first claim on the power plants. It deregulated part of the market, but not all of the market.
Before Enron, I think people were a bit more naive about the way things worked, and I think Enron pulled the curtain back on unsavoury practices that turned out to be a lot more widespread.
You know Texas is - even more now that Enron has bit the dust - it's held up on the back of small businesses.
During the Enron debacle, it was workers who took the pounding, not bankers. Not only did Enron employees lose their jobs, many lost their retirement savings. That's because they were at the bottom of the investing food chain.
Bush began helping Enron in the eighties.
I've never commented much about my experience at Enron except to say, when I was there, it was a much more pipeline and asset-oriented company.
I take full responsibility for what happened at Enron. But saying that, I know in my mind that I did nothing criminal.
What Enron was doing, what caused investors to embrace it in a rapture of baffled awe, was hiding debt.
Because the sad fact is that the Enron Corporation and others manipulated with unfortunately great effect the energy market in the West Coast starting in 2000.
The collapse of Enron was devastating to tens of thousands of people and shook the public's confidence in corporate America.