Enron #3

1. What does Gladwell mean when he says that, 'Puzzles are "transmitter-dependent"; they turn on what we are told. Mysteries are "receiver dependent"; they turn on the skills of the listener.'?

He means that the outcome of a puzzle depends on the missing puzzle piece whereas the outcome of a mystery depends on how the person interprets the missing information when they find it.

2. Why didn't Enron have to pay taxes on their S.P.E.'s? What would be Enron's defense? Can you name the Illogical Fallacy present?

It didn’t have to pay taxes on its income because it technically wasn’t making any income. Its defense would be that it was technically legal because they didn’t get the income until the partnership sold the asset. This fallacy here is circular reasoning.

3. Did Enron try to hide the fact that they weren't paying taxes?

No, because no one could understand all the maneuvering they went through in their tax code to do it unless they were specially trained.

4. Why does Gladwell claim that, 'Woodward and Bernstein would never have broken the Enron story.' Why don't you think anyone asked about Enron's financial statements? Is there a fallacy at work here?

He claims this because he believes they would have only had the skills to put the information together to reach a conclusion but not to look more closely at the information they had to reach a conclusion. No one asked them because no one knew much about it and because no one wanted to be called out on asking it as though they were doing something wrong. The fallacy here is ad hominem attack.

5. Gladwell claims that, 'Mysteries require that we revisit our list of culprits and be willing to spread the blame a little more broadly. Because if you can't find the truth in a mystery—even a mystery shrouded in propaganda—it's not just the fault of the propagandist. It's your fault as well.' Do you agree with the implications of this statement?

I do agree because I believe it is true that some of blame belongs to us if we do not realize the bad things that are going on right in front of our eyes.

6. What was the advice of the Cornell students to anyone who held Enron stock?

To sell the stock because of the risky strategies Enron was following with their business model.