Bethany McLean

“People also felt that a great crime had been committed, yet there was not going to be a great punishment.”

— Bethany McLean

In capital we trust. Capital is our savior, our holy grail, our fountain of youth, or at least health, for banks.

— Bethany McLean

“unmistakable message to boardrooms across the country: You can’t lie to shareholders. You can’t put yourself in front of your employees’ interests.…

— Bethany McLean

When Warren Buffett invests in a company, he is conferring upon that company something very unique: his credibility.

— Bethany McLean

“But “if it’s destroyed in the course of the normal policy and litigation is filed the next day, that’s great, you know,…

— Bethany McLean

What's good for the financial industry probably isn't good for you.

— Bethany McLean

I'm not a big believer in the power of more regulation to fix things. I think it can almost be more dangerous…

— Bethany McLean

The worst story I ever wrote was after the conviction of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay. My co-author and I wrote a…

— Bethany McLean

Home ownership was the fig leaf for the rise in subprime lending. But that was really about cash-out refinancings, not buying homes.

— Bethany McLean

Proponents of privatization argued that cities and states needed private capital to fund all the upgrades that our decaying infrastructure so desperately…

— Bethany McLean

Capital isn't this pile of money sitting somewhere; it's an accounting construct.

— Bethany McLean

... skepticism about past returns is crucial. The truth is, much as you may wish you could know which funds will be…

— Bethany McLean

So Merrill Lynch has launched its first campaign in years to advertise the accomplishments of its investment banking business. The ads feature…

— Bethany McLean

Choices of right or wrong are not presented to you in black and white. If they were, I'm sure most people would…

— Bethany McLean

The big banks advise cities about whether privatization is a wise choice. They also control the ability of states and cities to…

— Bethany McLean

“The after-the-fact rationalizations were strikingly similar to the mind-set that produced the Enron disaster in the first place. The arguments were narrow…

— Bethany McLean

Google worries - and rightly so - about how hard it is for a big company to come up with the next…

— Bethany McLean

The last and most painful irony is that the two longtime rival armies in the securitization market - the investment banks and…

— Bethany McLean

I think synergies are a lot like UFOs: Lots of people claim to have seen them, but few can actually prove they…

— Bethany McLean

Before Enron, I think people were a bit more naive about the way things worked, and I think Enron pulled the curtain…

— Bethany McLean

Privatization of assets that most of us consider public goods - like airports and highways - has a long, often-uncontroversial history.

— Bethany McLean

No city embraced privatization more eagerly than Chicago, where I live.

— Bethany McLean

Building a portfolio around index funds isn’t really settling for the average. It’s just refusing to believe in magic.

— Bethany McLean

“she suggested deleting senior Andersen partners from the circulation list for Enron e-mails because it “increases their likelihood of being a witness.”…

— Bethany McLean

Fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in isolation, without looking at the big picture, would be short-sighted.

— Bethany McLean