Bethany McLean is a Vanity Fair contributing editor. on March 2.Read more about the C.D.C . Nocera and McLean writing book on U.S. coronavirus response 500 energy sector fell, questions weve gathered from readers recently, adequate research and support for sufferers, according to the law firm Haynes and Boone. About Bethany McLean is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. The Wuhan Institute of Virology, the cutting-edge . The industrys lack of profits wasnt exactly a secret. Looking for more? COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a "Complex and Grave Situation" Inside a Wuhan Lab. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 208 new COVID cases reported in McLean County In May 2008, she married attorney Sean Berkowitz, the former Director of the United States Department of Justice Enron Task Force. governor announced on Tuesday that he will convene a grand jury to investigate "crimes and wrongdoing" related to COVID-19 vaccines. So the era of low interest rates, which began with former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and continues to this day, has been a huge boon to private-equity firms. By Bethany McLean. 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. This week, Kate and Daniel talk to Bethany McLean, author most recently of Saudi America: The Truth about Fracking and How Its 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. In this episode, McLeanwho has tracked the industrys shaky footing for yearstraces the ups and downs of the industry from the 1970s to 2008 to today, and assesses whether a new recession will speed the transition away from fossil fuelsor hand oil barons a life raft. How Screwed Are Donald Trump and His Adult Children, and Other Questions You Might Have About the Staggering Fraud Lawsuit Against Them. On March 9, the price of oil plunged by almost a third, its steepest one-day drop in almost 30 years. On the surface, it appears that two unforeseeable and random shocks are threatening our dream. Over the past 10 years, the entire energy industry has issued over $400 billion in high-yield debt. She is the co-author of the 2003 book, "The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron," which was the basis for the Academy Award-nominated documentary of the same name. Thats because some of the major investors in private-equity funds are public pension plans; at Blackstone, roughly one-third of the firms money comes from retirement plans set up to provide for over 30 million working-class Americans, according to someone with knowledge of its portfolio. 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. The Next Financial Crisis Lurks Underground, Coronavirus May Kill Our Fracking Fever Dream. He and McLean previously worked together on All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, about the 2008 market crash. 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. McLean is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and co-author of the Enron book The Smartest Guys in the Room. Bethany Lee McLean (born December 12, 1970) is an American journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. Tens of thousands of Texans are being laid off in the Permian Basin and other parts of the state, and the whole industry is bracing for worse. Even as the public equity and debt markets grew cautious, drilling continued. Writer: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Bethany McLean was born on 12 December 1970 in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA. [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. The title and release date have not yet been determined. If you need help with the Public File, call 540-512-1558. Occidental is just one piece of the puzzle. Is there any chance this could lead to prison time? NEW YORK Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Some of it may be on bank balance sheets. According to the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), a lobbying group which represents CalPERs and other public investors, businesses backed by private equity employ more than 8.8 million Americans at over 35,000 companies, accounting for a staggering 5% of the United States GDP. 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. One of the key principles behind private equity is that increased leverageaka more debtcan make a business function more efficiently. COVID-19 Guidance for isolation and quarantine, COVID-19 Education and Outreach Materials Page. NEW YORK Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. 2023 Cond Nast. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Here are some tips. Coronavirus outbreaks were reported by the Merced County Department of Public Health at New Bethany Residential Care retirement home in Los Banos and Dutch Bros Coffee. Veuer's Tony Spitz has the details. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. When will the pandemic end? Bethany McLean - IMDb Otherwise, the ILPA warned in a previous letter, there would be significant harm not only to employees that see their hours reduced or jobs eliminated, but also significantly reduced returns to the institutions providing retirement security through pensions, insurance policies and other investments that serve hundreds of thousands of Americans. To make matters worse, ILPA added, provisions in many private-equity investments allow private-equity firms to make additional capital calls when times are tough. Has its bubble finally burst? BLOOMINGTON A total of 208 new COVID-19 cases have been reported by the McLean County Health Department from Jan. 27 through Friday. Coronavirus May Kill Our Fracking Fever Dream, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-texas-fracking-layoffs.html. Unfortunately, there isnt really an alternative to providing private equity with federal funds. Bethany Nesbitt, 20, was found dead in a residence hall at. McLean County, Illinois Covid Case and Risk Tracker In the Season One finale of Making A Killing, Bethany brings back her friend, colleague and co-author Joe Nocera (Bloomberg Opinion columnist and creator of The Shrink Next Door podcast) to bookend the season with a lively analysis of the former head of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault S.A., Carlos Ghosn. (Adila Mchich, CME Group), Fractivism: Corporate Bodies and Chemical Bonds (Sarah Ann Wylie), The Fracktivists (Colin Kinniburgh, Dissent), Kate: A Moderate Proposal: Nationalize The Fossil Fuel Industry (The New Republic), This week, Kate and Daniel talk to Bethany McLean, author most recently of, Saudi America: The Truth about Fracking and How Its Changing the World, The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, If you like the episode and want to hear more, sign up as a monthly member at. Coronavirus Resource Center: Testing and Vaccine Updates - CVS According to the CARES Act, companies can only receive loans from the Small Business Administration if they commit to preserving jobs. Now, it has been shut off. And President Trump reveled in the rhetoric: We hadnt merely achieved independence, his administration said, but rather energy dominance.. 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. Its a rich history of a company, and a case study in how a corporate culture can turn toxic. Thats because oil fracking has never been financially viable. After the United States engaged in a high-stakes negotiation with Russia and Saudi Arabia to curtail production, a tentative deal was struck on Thursday. 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. I dont think any of us can really believe what we saw today, one industry analyst told AP. They subprimed the American energy ecosystem, says a longtime energy market observer. The title and release date have not yet been determined. He and McLean previously worked together on All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, about the 2008 market crash. Unlike venture capitalists, who provide start-up funds to new companies, private-equity firms generally take over existing businesses, usually by borrowing large sums of money. Bethany McLean. It once seemed utterly unattainable until the advent of fracking, which unleashed a torrent of oil. Hours Thanks to the $2 trillion bipartisan bailout bill, the industrys coronavirus losses will belong to all of us. 1. Even so, he told me, a large number of private-equity firms ignored that guidance and decided to put very high levels of leverage on their portfolio companies. Maybe those firms should now be required to contribute more equity from their cash stockpiles, he suggests. All rights reserved. [12], McLean married Chris Wilford in 2000 and divorced in 2006. Clients who show symptoms of COVID-19 (for example have a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing) and/or are waiting for their test results. A journalist profiles the developers and devotees who have aided the rise of cybercurrency. Bethany McLean is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the author of "Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It's Changing the World." The Power Law Venture Capital and the . [citation needed] She began as a contributor to Slate's Moneybox column, in 2010 and "The Bulldog" column in Fortune. Copyright 2023 WSLS.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more. The socio-economic status of individuals needing . 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. Blackstones Schwarzman has ties to Trump. 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. All thats left to tally is the damage. Some of it has been packaged into so-called collateralized loan obligations, pieces of which are held by hedge funds. Its thanks to those who are able to contribute that were able to make the podcast free for anyone to listen to. Americas energy independence was an illusion created by cheap debt. After nearly bringing down the economy in 2008, how is it possible that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still around? Americas energy independence was an illusion created by cheap debt. 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. From 2015 through 2019, private equity firms raised almost $80 billion in funds focused mostly on shale production, according to Barclays. More than 100,000 people already have died in this country from the virus. Stopping that will require a creative effort to increase and sustain high levels of vaccination. 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 . [16] McLean resides in Chicago with her children. Bethany McLean - Contributing Editor - Vanity Fair | LinkedIn By early 2019, America was the worlds largest producer of crude oil, surpassing both Saudi Arabia and Russia. Previous to her current roles, McLean was an editor-at-large at Fortune Magazine.