Description: The Enron bankruptcy is the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. The following questions can guide your study through
C-SPAN's special series.

1. Operations & Management
What is Enron? How does the company generate revenue? How did it get into a position to declare bankruptcy? What investigations are underway into the company's affairs? Who are the top executives in the company? Who's on the board? What roles did these individuals play? Will the company survive?
Purchase tape from the C-SPAN Archives (from 1/14/02)
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2. Auditors & Financial Analysts
What is the role of auditors? Why is the work of auditors being called into question in the Enron bankruptcy? Who oversees auditors? What is the role of financial analysts? What is their relationship with the companies they analyze? How is their work used by investors? Who oversees financial analysts?
Purchase tape from the C-SPAN Archives (from 1/15/02)
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3. Politics & Lobbying
What are Enron's ties to Washington? What has been Enron's lobbying effort in Washington? What federal agencies oversee the various businesses and activities of Enron? What role did Enron play in the administration's energy policy? To whom did Enron and Enron executives give campaign contributions?
Purchase tape from the C-SPAN Archives (from 1/16/02)
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4. Government Oversight
What's the role of the SEC? What aspects of the Enron Bankruptcy is the SEC investigating? What is the role of Congress in investigating the Enron bankruptcy? What other agencies have oversight of the various Enron businesses?
Purchase tape from the C-SPAN Archives (from 1/17/02)
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5. Stockholders
How much money did the collapse of Enron's stock price cost stockholders? Why are stock sales by Enron executives significant? What are the rules for 401K plans? What are some of the proposals in Congress for changing the rules of 401K plans? What are stockholders rights in this case?
Purchase tape from the C-SPAN Archives (from 1/18/02)
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For further study
What were the "turning points" in the rise and fall of Enron? What conditions led to the company's success and failure? How is the Enron bankruptcy similar or dissimilar to other financial catastrophes in U.S. history? To what degree did American systems fail to prevent the bankruptcy? Who or what is to blame? What steps should be taken to either punish those at fault or mitigate the damages? Should our economic or oversight systems be modified? What lessons does the Enron bankruptcy offer for students of U.S. history? What civics lessons does the story hold?

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