--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Companies like Enron have learned that…" description: "\"Companies like Enron have learned that small investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programs or hiring moonlighting professors can return ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/ralph-nader-1783_articles_companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-s_1103697.jpg" --- # Companies like Enron have learned that small investments… ![“Companies like Enron have learned that small investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programs or hiring moonlighting professors can return big payoffs in generating books, reports, articles, testimony and other materials to push for and rationalize public policy positions that damage…” quote by Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/ralph-nader-1783_articles_companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-s_1103697.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/ralph-nader-1783_articles_companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-s_1103697.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/ralph-nader-1783_articles_companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-s_1103697.jpg) > “Companies like Enron have learned that small investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programs or hiring moonlighting professors can return big payoffs in generating books, reports, articles, testimony and other materials to push for and rationalize public policy positions that damage the public interest but benefit corporate bottomlines.” [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes how corporations manipulate academic and policy institutions for profit, undermining public interest. **In simple terms:** Companies fund research to push policies that benefit them, not the public. Key Takeaway Beware of corporate influence on policy. Themes corporate power policy research ethics Mood skeptical concerned Type analytical informative When to use this quote - government regulation - public advocacy - transparency initiatives Key Concepts public interest academic integrity political lobbying Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards can prevent abuse? - How to balance funding with independence? A Different Perspective Corporate funding can also produce valuable research, complicating the picture. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Articles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/articles/) [Benefits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benefits/) [Big Payoffs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-payoffs-2904873/) [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Chairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chairs/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Corporate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporate/) [Damage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damage/) [Enron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enron/) [Enron Learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enron-learned-2904870/) [Hiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hiring/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Investment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investment/) [Investments Endowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investments-endowing-2904871/) [Libertarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarian/) [Like Enron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-enron-893889/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Payoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/payoff/) [Policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policy/) [Position](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/position/) [Professors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professors/) [Program](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/program/) [Public interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-interest/) [Public policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-policy/) [Rationalize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rationalize/) [Reports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reports/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Small Investments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-investments-2904872/) [Testimony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/testimony/) ## Related quotes > [For business to survive over a long period, it needs to be contributing to society and people's well-being. Otherwise, who's going to want it?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-koch/for-business-to-survive-over-a-long-period-it-needs-to-be/) [Charles Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-koch/) > [The not-quite-sort-of lie works here too - often an ad will announce that "Congressman Johnson voted for a bill that gave tax breaks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lileks/the-not-quite-sort-of-lie-works-here-too-often-an-ad-will-announce/) [James Lileks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lileks/) > [A corporation like Enron is a person with a legal identity and no ethical accountability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-berry/a-corporation-like-enron-is-a-person-with-a-legal-identity-and-no/) [Doug Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-berry/) > [It's hard to make small investments when you're a billion-dollar fund.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-patricof/it-s-hard-to-make-small-investments-when-you-re-a-billion-dollar-fund/) [Alan Patricof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-patricof/) > [Very small investments can release the infinite potential that lies in all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novogratz/very-small-investments-can-release-the-infinite-potential-that-lies/) [Jacqueline Novogratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novogratz/) > [Sometimes very small investments can release enormous, infinite potential that exists in all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novogratz/sometimes-very-small-investments-can-release-enormous-infinite/) [Jacqueline Novogratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novogratz/) > [This budget is like an Enron budget -- smoke the numbers, cook the books, hide the truth and hope no one finds out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senator-john-kerry/this-budget-is-like-an-enron-budget-smoke-the-numbers-cook-the-books/) [Senator John Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senator-john-kerry/) > [But the most important thing is, Enron did not cause the California crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-lay/but-the-most-important-thing-is-enron-did-not-cause-the-california/) [Kenneth Lay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-lay/) > [I predict that in the years ahead Enron, not Sept. 11, will come to be seen as the greater turning point in U.S. society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/i-predict-that-in-the-years-ahead-enron-not-sept-11-will-come-to-be/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) > [People are treating the Stewart case as seriously as Enron when it's really over trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sloan/people-are-treating-the-stewart-case-as-seriously-as-enron-when-it-s/) [Allan Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sloan/) > [“Enron was becoming a virtual cult of creativity, often placing swagger over substance. New ideas were celebrated for their newness, for their potential; tried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-eichenwald/enron-was-becoming-a-virtual-cult-of-creativity-often-placing-swagger/) [Kurt Eichenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-eichenwald/) > [I take full responsibility for what happened at Enron. But saying that, I know in my mind that I did nothing criminal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-lay/i-take-full-responsibility-for-what-happened-at-enron-but-saying-that/) [Kenneth Lay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-lay/) > [Over the weekend, former Enron executives Jeffrey Skilling and Rebecca Carter married each other during a huge ceremony in Houston. The happy couple is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/over-the-weekend-former-enron-executives-jeffrey-skilling-and-rebecca/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [ I think everybody is covering their \[posteriors\] with the Enron scandal and it was very convenient that Sept. 11 came along to deflect the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bernhard/i-think-everybody-is-covering-their-posteriors-with-the-enron-scandal/) [Sandra Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bernhard/) > [The Enron scandal calls into question the integrity of the entire capitalist system, which previously we assumed was based on honest, straightforward greed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-achenbach/the-enron-scandal-calls-into-question-the-integrity-of-the-entire/) [Joel Achenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-achenbach/) ## More by Ralph Nader > [This welfare for wealthy companies wastes taxpayer dollars, harms the environment, and makes a mockery of the recent reductions in federal social spending programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/this-welfare-for-wealthy-companies-wastes-taxpayer-dollars-harms-the/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [Nuclear power must be dealt with irrationally. . . . Nuclear plants are carcinogens. Let's get that story out. . . . Their lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/nuclear-power-must-be-dealt-with-irrationally-nuclear-plants-are/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [In 2000 the majority of people wanted me and Buchanan on the debates in two thousand. And me on the debates in 2004. have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/in-2000-the-majority-of-people-wanted-me-and-buchanan-on-the-debates/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [What we need to recognize, less than 1 percent of the people organized around issues that are already supported by conservatives and liberals, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/what-we-need-to-recognize-less-than-1-percent-of-the-people-organized/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [We live in a two-party tyranny that doesn't believe in competition, can enforce it with penalties and obstructions, and they're getting closer and closer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/we-live-in-a-two-party-tyranny-that-doesn-t-believe-in-competition/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [George W. Bush is very vulnerable but not if you campaign the way the major candidates - except for Dean and Kucinich - are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/george-w-bush-is-very-vulnerable-but-not-if-you-campaign-the-way-the/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [In the meantime the big corporations are fleeing America for tax havens and places like Ireland, Luxembourg and the Grand Cayman Islands; the rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/in-the-meantime-the-big-corporations-are-fleeing-america-for-tax/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [Full Medicare-for-all, free choice of doctor and hospital: that comes in sixty to seventy percent without even further explanation. And if you ever explained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/full-medicare-for-all-free-choice-of-doctor-and-hospital-that-comes/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [I always say there's no ticket of admission for active citizenship. Anybody can get through that gate, and anybody can ask that basic question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/i-always-say-there-s-no-ticket-of-admission-for-active-citizenship/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [People have got to show up, showing up at meetings, rallies, marches, City Council, courtrooms. You've got to show up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/people-have-got-to-show-up-showing-up-at-meetings-rallies-marches/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [For almost seventy years the life insurance industry has been a smug sacred cow feeding the public a steady line of sacred bull.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/for-almost-seventy-years-the-life-insurance-industry-has-been-a-smug/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [It is fascinating to watch legislators turn away from their usual corporate grips when they hear the growing thunder of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/it-is-fascinating-to-watch-legislators-turn-away-from-their-usual/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [In 2004 Professor Stephen Farnsworth, when I report saying that I got about five minutes on all the networks after Labor Day to election…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/in-2004-professor-stephen-farnsworth-when-i-report-saying-that-i-got/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [Young wives are the leading asset of corporate power. They want the suburbs, a house, a settled life, and respectability. They want society to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/young-wives-are-the-leading-asset-of-corporate-power-they-want-the/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [Moral courage is the highest expression of humanity ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/moral-courage-is-the-highest-expression-of-humanity/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) [Explore all 208 Ralph Nader quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) ## More Articles quotes > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [The strange thing with Wikipedia is that the first article that ever gets written about you will define your Wikipedia page forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-burnham/the-strange-thing-with-wikipedia-is-that-the-first-article-that-ever/) [Bo Burnham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-burnham/) > [Some article called me the most feared man in Silicon Valley. Good Lord! Why? My teenage boys got a kick out of it: 'Dad,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/some-article-called-me-the-most-feared-man-in-silicon-valley-good/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Authors of published papers and editors of scientific journals can, unfortunately, be slow to come to terms with criticism, and it's good that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-gelman/authors-of-published-papers-and-editors-of-scientific-journals-can/) [Andrew Gelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-gelman/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Over immense periods of time the intellect produced nothing but errors. A few of these proved to be useful and helped to preserve the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/over-immense-periods-of-time-the-intellect-produced-nothing-but/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I used to be a columnist for 'Golf Monthly' and have contributed articles for national newspapers based on the humour that is in abundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-carrott/i-used-to-be-a-columnist-for-golf-monthly-and-have-contributed/) [Jasper Carrott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-carrott/) > [There was an interesting article in Los Angeles Magazine about women directors. A woman director makes one bad independent film and her career is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-wolf/there-was-an-interesting-article-in-los-angeles-magazine-about-women/) [Dick Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-wolf/) > [People went out there and they wrote articles and went on television shows saying that I am an operative that the CIA who used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/people-went-out-there-and-they-wrote-articles-and-went-on-television/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize,... The people are confirmed by the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tench-coxe/as-civil-rulers-not-having-their-duty-to-the-people-duly-before-them/) [Tench Coxe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tench-coxe/) > [An article on playwrights in the Daily Mail , listed according to Hard Left, Soft Left, Hard Right, Soft Right and Centre. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/an-article-on-playwrights-in-the-daily-mail-listed-according-to-hard/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [I have always loved to read, and now that I have penned 10 novels and a few magazine articles, I have fallen seriously in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-benton-frank/i-have-always-loved-to-read-and-now-that-i-have-penned-10-novels-and/) [Dorothea Benton Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-benton-frank/) > [The definition of the right of suffrage is very justly regarded as a fundamental article of republican government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-definition-of-the-right-of-suffrage-is-very-justly-regarded-as-a/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) [Browse all 893 Articles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/articles/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Companies like Enron have learned that small investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programs or hiring moonlighting professors can return big payoffs in generating books, reports, articles, testimony and other materials to push for and rationalize public policy positions that damage the public interest but benefit corporate bottomlines.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Nader" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-small-investments-in-endowing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Articles" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-small-investments-in-endowing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/ralph-nader-1783_articles_companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-s_1103697.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/ralph-nader-1783_articles_companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-s_1103697.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/ralph-nader-1783_articles_companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-s_1103697.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Companies like Enron have learned that small investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programs or…” — Ralph Nader", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ralph Nader", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Companies like Enron have learned that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-small-investments-in-endowing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/companies-like-enron-have-learned-that-small-investments-in-endowing/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```