How will the virus continue to change? McLean is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and co-author of the Enron book The Smartest Guys in the Room. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. We asked three experts two immunologists and an epidemiologist to weigh in on this and some of the hundreds of other, Thats a difficult question to answer definitely, writes the Opinion columnist Zeynep Tufekci, because of the lack of. 2 FOR DRIVE-THRU TESTING RESULTS: Lab samples are sent to an off-site laboratory and results may take 1 to 2 days or even longer in some instances or in times of peak demand. Previous assignments include editor-at-large, columnist for Fortune, and a contributor to Slate . The industrys $1.5 trillion in cash on hand is also the highest on recordand more than double what it was five years ago, according to Preqin. Writer: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Smithfield Foods. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. These firms not only have a record $1.5 trillion in cash on the sidelines, waiting to be invested, but their CEOs are among Americas richest executives. She resides in Chicago with her children. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous . (Many of the companies owned by mammoth private-equity firms like Blackstone are too big on their own to qualify for this bucket of money.). How Screwed Are Donald Trump and His Adult Children, and Other Questions You Might Have About the Staggering Fraud Lawsuit Against Them. The promised profits havent materialized. Clients who show symptoms of COVID-19 (for example have a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing) and/or are waiting for their test results. The title and release date have not yet been determined. Driven partly by public pensions, the private-equity industry has mushroomed. So private equity is pushing to waive those rules, arguing that small firms should not be penalized for having been bought out by big investors. Bethany McLean is a journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair. Dec 2020 - Apr 20221 year 5 months. Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint, announced Wednesday that the two had reached an agreement for a news-breaking, character-driven narrative revealing the forces that rendered critical American institutions ill-equipped to cope with the deadliest pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu and the economic consequences of that failure.The title and release date have not yet been determined. This week, Kate and Daniel talk to Bethany McLean, author most recently of Saudi America: The Truth about Fracking and How It's Changing the World as well as the bestselling The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, with Peter Elkind. There were rumblings that shale companies would seek a federal lifeline. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.htm January 12, 2022 COVID Update Update on Bethany College COVID Response I dont think any of us can really believe what we saw today, one industry analyst told AP. Pension funds that have poured money into private equity firms may take a hit soon, too. In 2019, the American Investment Council (AIC), a lobbying group which represents private-equity giants like Blackstone, the Carlyle Group, Apollo Global Management, and KKR, declared that in order to continue to provide the benefits they guarantee, pensions must continue to invest in private equity.. Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint, announced Wednesday that the two had reached an agreement for a news-breaking, character-driven narrative revealing the forces that rendered critical American institutions ill-equipped to cope with the deadliest pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu and the economic consequences of that failure.. She is known for her writing on the Enron scandal and the 2008 financial crisis. . The community level of Covid-19 in McLean County is low based on cases and hospitalizations, according to the most recent update from the C.D.C. Nocera and McLean writing book on U.S. coronavirus response By The Associated Press June 24, 2020 NEW YORK (AP) Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. . He and McLean previously worked together on All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, about the 2008 market crash. The industry also quietly helps itself to yet more money by having portfolio companies pay fees for consulting and financing services provided by, of course, their private-equity backers. On the surface, it appears that two unforeseeable and random shocks are threatening our dream. Looking for more? In early 2015, the hedge fund manager David Einhorn announced at an investment conference that he had looked at the financial statements of 16 publicly traded shale producers and found that from 2006 to 2014, they spent $80 billion more than they received from selling oil. She co-authored a book on the 2008 financial crisis titled All the Devils Are Here. The allies of private equity hope that similar exemptions will soon be forthcoming for their firms.We are in a wait-and-see mode, Chris Hayes, the ILPAs senior policy counsel, told me. A college student in Indiana died in her dorm room after testing positive for the coronavirus, school officials and her family said. All thats left to tally is the damage. Airlines, hotels, and restaurantsall of whose revenues have cratered in the wake of sweeping stay-home ordershave engaged in Hunger Gameslike lobbying to cash in on the CARES Act, making their case for a share of the disaster relief. The politics dictating whether the private-equity industry will get its wishes are surprising. Ms. McLean is the author of Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How Its Changing the World., Ever since the oil shocks of the 1970s, the idea of energy independence, which in its grandest incarnation meant freedom from the worlds oil-rich trouble spots, has been a dream for Democrats and Republicans alike. All rights reserved. As a result, private equity is now wound into the very fabric of our economy. NEW YORK Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. A hydraulic fracturing site in Denton, Texas. On March 9, the price of oil plunged by almost a third, its steepest one-day drop in almost 30 years. NEW YORK Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. McLean was born in Hibbing, Minnesota on December 12, 1970. This is late 80s bad, a close observer of the industry says. We could also limit the deductibility of interest payments for tax purposes even more than President Donald Trumps new tax law already did, so companies arent encouraged to load up on debt. Dylan Hollingsworth for The New York Times. In the five years ending in April, there were 215 bankruptcies for oil and gas companies, involving $130 billion in debt, according to the law firm Haynes and Boone. You can see how all of this is playing out by looking at Occidental Petroleum. Novavax Inc said on Thursday it would require six months to produce a COVID-19 vaccine designed to match whichever coronavirus variants are circulating for an annual immunization program each fall . More than 100,000 people already have died in this country from the virus. He and McLean previously worked together on All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, about the 2008 market crash. Her two books are the The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing. Hot & Bothered is produced by Colin Kinniburgh. Infuriatingly enough, the financial crisis in 2008 might even have saved private-equity firms from their sins. The active outbreak list is intended to inform the public of the current COVID-19 outbreaks in Los Angeles County. James Glassman says his seven-year-old prediction that the Dow Jones industrial average will rise to 36,000 wasn't wrong, just early. Not only should taxpayer funds not be used to pay management or consulting firms, she says, but companies that take the money should also, for instance, be required to include workers on their corporate boards and gradually increase their minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. 500 energy sector fell, questions weve gathered from readers recently, adequate research and support for sufferers, according to the law firm Haynes and Boone. [7][8] The Washington Post selected it as one of the best nonfiction books of 2015. Are Crude Oil & Natural Gas Prices Linked? Nocera is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and co-author of Indentured, about the NCAA. Ad Choices. Mortgages should be used to buy homes, not for refinancing. After nearly bringing down the economy in 2008, how is it possible that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still around? Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint, announced Wednesday that the two had reached an agreement for a news-breaking, character-driven narrative revealing the forces that rendered critical American institutions ill-equipped to cope with the deadliest pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu and the economic consequences of that failure.The title and release date have not yet been determined. Ever since Congress voted to hand out $2 trillion in taxpayer money to those hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, American businesses have been scrambling for a piece of the action. And more! McLean is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and co-author of the Enron book The Smartest Guys in the Room. The book, which she wrote from the couple's home, puts a human face to the crisis. Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. There are several pots of federal money that the private-equity industry is lobbying to access. The taxpayer handouts will also help private equity continue its relentless march through the global economy, snapping up troubled companies at bargain prices or extending high-priced credit as other investors, including hedge funds, are forced to sell off their holdings in the post-corona landscape. Has its bubble finally burst? By now, it should be abundantly clear that the current shale oil business model does not work even for the very best companies in the industry, the investment firm SailingStone Capital Partners explained in a recent note. [17], Last edited on 21 November 2022, at 20:31, "Hibbing grad warns of economic crisis below ground", "What Working At Goldman Sachs Taught Legendary Business Journalist Bethany McLean", "Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street", "BYRNE'S HOT MAIL; OVERSTOCK CHIEF'S TEMPER ERUPTS IN MESSAGES", Financial System's Top Risk, Hiding in Plain Sight, "U.S. mortgage giants under the microscope", "Loughlin, Giannulli lawyer is prosecutors' 'worst nightmare', "Q & A with Bethany McLean, Author of 'All the Devils Are Here', "Enron tale author Bethany McLean has a new book she wrote from her Chicago home", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bethany_McLean&oldid=1123096713, This page was last edited on 21 November 2022, at 20:31. Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint . Daily updates from Washington, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley. NEW YORK (AP) Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Rasmussen points out that after the financial crisis in 2008, the Federal Reserve set a limit on the amount of debt it considered prudent. All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis is a nonfiction book by authors Bethany McLean and Joseph Nocera about the 2008 financial crisis. [13][14][15] They divorced in 2020. In May 2008, she married attorney Sean Berkowitz, the former Director of the United States Department of Justice Enron Task Force. It is absolutely imperative, Waters recently wrote in support of private equity, that the reliefbe extended to protect all workers, irrespective of the affiliations of their employers. Translation: Workers shouldnt suffer just because their bosses sold a controlling stake in their businesses to a bunch of greedy fat cats. Seventy-one members of the Bethany Slavic Missionary Church near Rancho Cordova or people associated with congregation members have been afflicted with the virus, county officials say, making. But among those angling for a federal handout is one of the wealthiest sectors of the American economy: private equity. Thats because oil fracking has never been financially viable. If private equity is handed billions in taxpayer money, it could use some of it to pay themselves hefty fees today, then pocket even more of it down the road, when they sell their portfolio companies and collect their 20% of the taxpayer-enabled gains. Months into the outbreak, no one really knows how well many of the screening tests work, and experts at top medical centers say it is time to do the studies to find out. Now, it has been shut off. She is known for her writing on the Enron scandal and the 2008 financial crisis. By Patrick Semansky/AP Photo (Mnuchin); By Mark Wilson (Pelosi), Jason Alden (Shwarzman), Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg (Black), by Johannes EISELE/AFP (stocks), by Christina Horsten (tents), by John Nacion (ambulance); All from Getty Images. In the first half of 2019, when oil was around $55 a barrel, only a few top-tier companies were profitable. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. The problem is, existing rules at the Small Business Administration, which is overseeing the program, have been widely interpretedas excludingloaning money to most mom-and-pop businesses that are controlled by large parent companiesincluding private-equity firms. The fracking boom that drove a decade of record U.S. oil and gas production was never really profitable to begin with. Fracking, they said, was just manufacturing, in which process and human intelligence could reduce costs and conquer geology. The value of West Texas Intermediate crude, a U.S. benchmark, dipped below zero for a few hourstrading as low as negative $40 a barrel. Americas largest public pension plan, the California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS, put almost $7 billion into private equity during the 2018-2019 fiscal year, according to Institutional Investor. All we know for sure is that fracking company executives and private equity financiers have made a fortune by touting the myth of energy independence and they wont be the ones who have to pick up the pieces., Bethany McLean, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, is the author of Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How Its Changing the World.. But with super-low interest rates, investors in search of yield were still willing to buy debt. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The immunobiologist Akiko Iwasakiwrites that new vaccines, particular those delivered through the nose, may be part of the answer. The total number of . Jack Ewings Faster, Higher, Farther is more than the story of a scandal. Get COVID-19 vaccine updates from the CDC. Some of it has been packaged into so-called collateralized loan obligations, pieces of which are held by hedge funds. We could go even further. Moodys, the rating agency, said that in the third quarter of 2019, 91 percent of defaulted U.S. corporate debt was due to oil and gas companies. (And not all private-equity firms care equally about all of the programs.) Monday - Friday
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. The book was later made into the Academy Award-nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. But they wont fix its fundamental problem with profitability. She was previously married to Christopher Roberts Wilford. Traders last year at the New York Stock Exchange near the post that trades Anadarko Petroleum and Occidental Petroleum. NEW YORK (AP) Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Beleaguered pension funds, which suffered big losses in the financial crisis, could no longer count on decent returns from fixed investments, given how low interest rates have been kept by the Fed. 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 200 W Front StreetBloomington, IL 61701Phone: (309) 888-5450 HoursMonday - Friday8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more. Bethany McLean is a . And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. She is a writer, known for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005), Independent Lens (1999) and PBS NewsHour (1975). Bethany McLean was born on 12 December 1970 in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA. A loophole in the tax code currently allows private-equity financiers to pay taxes on their returns at the lower rate for capital gains, rather than the higher rate for personal income. COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a "Complex and Grave Situation" Inside a Wuhan Lab. If you need help with the Public File, call 540-512-1558. Which explains why ILPA wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell last week, arguing that companies backed by private equity should be allowed to access the relief funds provided in the CARES Act. Paying members will get access to perks like a monthly happy hour with Kate, Daniel, and friends, a free ebook of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal by Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and Thea Riofrancos, and much more. Bethany Lee McLean (born December 12, 1970) is an American journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. The man who shot his girlfriend and five relatives at a birthday celebration had "control issues". In each of the past four years, according to data-provider Preqin, private-capital managers raised over $500 billion of new money to invest. governor announced on Tuesday that he will convene a grand jury to investigate "crimes and wrongdoing" related to COVID-19 vaccines. [1] It details how the financial crisis bubbled up from a volatile, and bipartisan, mixture of government meddling and laissez-faire. So if Blackstones investments crater, the teachers, firefighters, and health care workers who are counting on those investments to generate the returns necessary to pay their pensions will suffer. They have two children. He and McLean previously worked together on All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, about the 2008 market crash. The industrys total assets under management have hit a record $4.1 trillion. Its a rich history of a company, and a case study in how a corporate culture can turn toxic. Copyright 2023 Click2Houston.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Mnuchin is a former Goldman Sachs executive and hedge fund guy; Blackstones Schwarzman has ties to Trump; Jared Kushners family business has gotten loans from Apollo, according to the Washington Post. The industrys lack of profits wasnt exactly a secret. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Bethany McLean. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Certainly, President Trump, who has staked so much on the American shale industry, wants to save it. Private equity, of course, came of age in the 1980s, when greed was good and private-equity titans like KKRs Henry Kravis first burst into the limelight by taking over famed American manufacturers like RJR Nabisco. In reality, the dream was always an illusion, and its collapse was already underway. Thats because one big source of funding didnt dry up: private equity. Even before the COVID crisis, there were questions about how well private-equity investments were actually performing. COVID-19 Guidance for isolation and quarantine, COVID-19 Education and Outreach Materials Page. Even as the public equity and debt markets grew cautious, drilling continued. Is there any chance this could lead to prison time? Yet an exemption for the private-equity industry did not make its way into the CARES Act; according to Bloomberg, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to pass a $250 billion boost to the PPPwithout provisions opening it to private-equity-backed companies.