LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
But you can shoot a bandit. You can shoot a computer too, for all the good it will do in getting your goat back, which is why I stick to beer cans. The Internet is an enormous hacking industry serviced by a small global interconnected computer network. These hackers can hack anything . According to major news outlets, Russian hackers hacked into the American electoral system, right down to the level of presidential primary ballots. I’ve been covering American elections since 1972, and I am absolutely clueless about what goes on with presidential primary ballots (and so are all the political reporters I know). Talk about encryption – local politicians have primary voting shenanigans sealed in a crypt. And yet here were the Russian hackers in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi – probably unable to understand a word of English as it is spoken by Mississippians – figuring out which yokel supporting Hillary would beat which hayseed supporting Bernie to become a Mississippi delegate to the Democratic National Convention. And right now, some dateless, pear-shaped 16-year-old wearing emoji pajamas is in his bedroom, with the floor covered in empty Snickers wrappers, logging on to make himself a Darknet billionaire. I hope Walgreens accepts cryptocurrency in payment for acne cream. I have an old friend, Michael Farr, president of Farr, Miller & Washington investment
consultants, who tells a story he calls, “How Ignorance Saved Me a Fortune.” At the end of 2000, Enron was rated “most innovative large company in America” by Fortune magazine’s Most Admired Companies Survey. Michael thought it might be a good buy. He asked his top team of analysts to look at Enron. A week went by and Michael heard nothing from his analysts. He talked to them and they said, “We’re still working on it.” Another week went by. Nothing. “We’re still working on it.” Two more weeks went by and Michael called his analysts on the carpet. He said, “A month ago, I asked you to look at Enron. And I haven’t heard a damn thing.” Michael’s analysts said, “Do you remember what you told us when you hired us?” Michael said, “Um... no.” “You told us,” the analysts said, “the first thing to do is figure out how a company makes money.” “And?...” said Michael. “We’ve been doing nothing but look at this company for the past four weeks, and we can’t figure out how Enron makes money.” Enron’s 2001 bankruptcy cost investors more than $68 billion. Michael hadn’t invested. He says, “If I hadn’t been feeling ignorant, I’d be broke.”
10 | July 2017
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