Bethany Lee McLean (born December 12, 1970) is an American journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. By Bethany McLean. Bethany McLean is a journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair. Even before the coronavirus crisis, the spigot was drying up. In September 2015, she published Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants which examines the governance and financial situation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seven years after the 2008 financial crisis. 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.. 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. Has its bubble finally burst? But they wont fix its fundamental problem with profitability. Looking for more? In reality, the dream was always an illusion, and its collapse was already underway. COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a "Complex and Grave Situation" Inside a Wuhan Lab. 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. How concerning are things like long covid and reinfections? Recent and archived work by Bethany McLean for The New York Times. The promised profits havent materialized. Investors in the equity of these companies have already seen the value of their holdings decimated. Bethany Nesbitt, 20, was found dead in a residence hall at. According to the CARES Act, companies can only receive loans from the Small Business Administration if they commit to preserving jobs. Policymakers who wanted to tout energy independence disregarded all this, even as investors were starting to lose patience. But there are ways to make it work better. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Bethany College will continue to adapt and collaborate as needed to encourage vaccines and boosters for staff and students. If you need help with the Public File, call 540-512-1558. Workers monitoring a hydraulic fracturing operation near Wink, Texas. How Screwed Are Donald Trump and His Adult Children, and Other Questions You Might Have About the Staggering Fraud Lawsuit Against Them. We really need Trump to do something or hes going to lose all the energy states in this election, Mr. Sheffield told CNBC in late March. Bethany Lee McLean (born December 12, 1970) is an American journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. 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. Jack Ewings Faster, Higher, Farther is more than the story of a scandal. 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. McLean is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and co-author of the Enron book "The Smartest Guys in the Room." Nocera. Copyright 2023 Click2Houston.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. TDD: (800) 526-0844 "[3] The article noted some irregularities in Enron's financial documents that were available to the public, suggesting the company's then-record high stock price was unjustified but she did not at that point suspect fraud at Enron. . After Enron's rapid collapse later in 2001, McLean co-authored the book The Smartest Guys in the Room (2003) which detailed the corrupt business practices of Enron officials. Manage all aspects of the daily operation for Ham Conversion, processing up to 1.5 million lbs/day . 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. 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. Driven partly by public pensions, the private-equity industry has mushroomed. She is known for her writing on the Enron scandal and the 2008 financial crisis. [9], In September 2018, she published Saudi America: The Truth about Fracking and How It's Changing the World which examined the "fracking revolution" and U.S. energy independence. And why not? https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.htm January 12, 2022 COVID Update Update on Bethany College COVID Response 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. Like so many other facets of the COVID-19 crisis, however, this unprecedented crash exposed long-running cracks in the facade. The title and release date have not yet been determined. All thats left to tally is the damage. Infuriatingly enough, the financial crisis in 2008 might even have saved private-equity firms from their sins. Exclusive: Inside the S--tshow That Was the Trump-Biden Transition. On the other hand, Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and powerful Representative Maxine Waters, have weighed in loudlyon the industrys behalf. All rights reserved). 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. Americas energy independence was an illusion created by cheap debt. Stopping that will require a creative effort to increase and sustain high levels of vaccination. NEW YORK Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. I dont think any of us can really believe what we saw today, one industry analyst told AP. 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. If private equity suffers, the blow will reverberate throughout the entire economy. James Glassman says his seven-year-old prediction that the Dow Jones industrial average will rise to 36,000 wasn't wrong, just early. As a result, the stocks that make up the S.&P. NEW YORK Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. As for Pelosi, she doesnt want to see companies backed by venture capital excluded from federal relief, given her Silicon Valley constituents. As a result, fracking stocks badly underperformed the market. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The half decade from 2013 to 2018 saw the most private-equity deals over any five-year period in American history. 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. The fear, of course, is that private equity will do what private equity does best, which is pocket the money themselves rather than devoting it to the businesses theyve invested in. The SHIELD saliva-based testing is available for all ages. Fueled by debt and years of easy credit, Americas energy boom is on shaky footing. Regarding another ongoing Covid danger, that of reinfections, a virologist sets the record straight: There has yet to be a variant that negates the benefits of vaccines.. At least 1 in 303 residents have died from the coronavirus, a total of 2,512 deaths. 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. The basic reason is that the amount of oil coming out of a fracked well declines steeply after the first year more than 50 percent in year two. More than 100,000 people already have died in this country from the virus. [citation needed], She authored an article on Enron for the March 5, 2001, issue of Fortune entitled, "Is Enron Overpriced? The man who shot his girlfriend and five relatives at a birthday celebration had "control issues". The socio-economic status of individuals needing . Blackstones Schwarzman has ties to Trump. In 2019, Mclean launched a podcast titled Making a Killing on Luminary. "Dow 36,000" co-authors stand by book's premise. 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. on March 2.Read more about the C.D.C . More than 100,000 people already have died in this country from the virus. COVID-19 in McLean County for the week ending 3-3-23 - New Cases (2-23-23 to 3-1-23):129; New Hospitalizations (2-22-23 to 2-28-23):10 ; McLean Countys COVID-19 Community Level is LOW: When Community Level is LOW: Stay up to date on vaccinations, Get tested if you have symptoms. She is known for her writing on the Enron scandal and the 2008 financial crisis. In 2018, according to analytics firm eVestment, pension funds in the U.S. and the U.K. pumped 27% of their fresh allocations of money into private-equity funds, up from 25% the year before. Dec 2020 - Apr 20221 year 5 months. Traders last year at the New York Stock Exchange near the post that trades Anadarko Petroleum and Occidental Petroleum. The Wuhan Institute of Virology, the cutting-edge . So why should they be permitted to raid the federal Treasury in a time of crisis? They subprimed the American energy ecosystem, says a longtime energy market observer. A hydraulic fracturing site in Denton, Texas. She resides in Chicago with her children. [citation needed] She began as a contributor to Slate's Moneybox column, in 2010 and "The Bulldog" column in Fortune. The book, which she wrote from the couple's home, puts a human face to the crisis. 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. When will the pandemic end? 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. 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. [1] It details how the financial crisis bubbled up from a volatile, and bipartisan, mixture of government meddling and laissez-faire. BLOOMINGTON A total of 208 new COVID-19 cases have been reported by the McLean County Health Department from Jan. 27 through Friday. Music: Mercurias Meet Victor Rice, Carregar (Instrumental), courtesy of Total Running Time. 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. Investors were willing to do this only as long as oil prices, which are not under Americas control, were high and when they believed that one day, profits would materialize. NEW YORK Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. That means public pensions might be forced to dump their holdings in public-backed investments to provide private-equity firms with emergency casha move that could depress the stock market even further. After nearly bringing down the economy in 2008, how is it possible that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still around? Increasingly desperate to boost the portfolios of retiring workers, they too turned to private equity as their saviorurged on by private equitys promises that it alone could deliver the necessary returns. Its thanks to those who are able to contribute that were able to make the podcast free for anyone to listen to. We could go even further. The book was later made into the Academy Award-nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. 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. She was previously married to Christopher Roberts Wilford. Confirmed case data are from the Department of Public Health's communicable disease surveillance database. Previous assignments include editor-at-large, columnist for Fortune, and a contributor to Slate. Bethany McLean was born on 12 December 1970 in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Blame Congress for the meltdown, not Goldman Sachs. 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. Copyright 2023 WSLS.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Thats because oil fracking has never been financially viable. No food or drink for one hour prior to testing. sure to go down in history as one of the wildest business stories ever. What the Theranos trial says about the blurred lines between visionaries and frauds. Actually, no. Then came Covid-19, and, on March 8, the sudden and vicious end to the truce between Saudi Arabia and Russia, under which both countries limited production to prop up prices. Thats a difficult question to answer definitely, writes the Opinion columnist Zeynep Tufekci, because of the lack of adequate research and support for sufferers, as well as confusion about what the condition even is. NEW YORK Business writers Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera are collaborating on a critical take of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Bethany McLean, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, is the author of "Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It's Changing the World." The Times is committed to publishing a. 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. 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. 2023 Cond Nast. We need private equity, we need more of it, and we need it now, chief investment officer Ben Meng said in early 2019right before CalPERS hired a former private-equity guy, who began his career at Goldman Sachs, to head its private-equity efforts. Get COVID-19 vaccine updates from the CDC. All rights reserved. Paying members will get access to perks like a. by Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and Thea Riofrancos, and much more. Joe Nocera is a journalist and column writer for Dealbook. Until the capital markets began to get suspicious, private equity investors could flip companies they had funded to larger, public companies, making a profitable exit regardless of whether or not the underlying business was making money. (This may not surprise anyone who is attempting to be productive while working in close quarters with their children.). New revelations about how one Trump staffer helped preserve the transfer of powerfrom the forthcoming book on the Biden White House, COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a Complex and Grave Situation Inside a Wuhan Lab. McLean started her career as an investment banking analyst for Goldman Sachs[2] and joined Vanity Fair as a contributing editor in 2008. Whats more, the Milken Institute reported, even by mid-2018, private equity owned more companies than the number of businesses listed on all of the U.S. stock exchanges combined, and have accounted for a more significant source of financing than initial public offerings in many recent years. Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. Best-selling author Bethany McLean reveals the true story of fracking's impact - on Wall Street, the economy, and geopolitics. Veuer's Tony Spitz has the details. These cookies are used to collect information on how users interact with Chicago Booth websites allowing us to improve the user experience and optimize our site where needed based on these interactions. On April 20, oil prices did something theyve never done before. Its still unclear where most of this debt is held. MCHD offers free COVID-19 (PCR) testing every Tuesday and Wednesday from 9am-12pm inside the McLean County Health Department building, 200 W. Front Street in downtown Bloomington, Room 400E. 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. 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.