WorldCom

Networks for Nothing, Inc.

Faced with the largest financial fraud in history, what should the feds do? Like Godzilla risen anew from the depths, WorldCom – soon be to rechristened MCI – is poised to emerge from bankruptcy blessed by the federal government. Read More ›

Dumber than “Dumb and Dumber”

Near the end of his tenure as WorldCom CEO, John Sidgmore told a trade association audience: “If you get away from the debt and fraud, this is a tremendous company with tremendous asset [sic]. It needs to be saved and it will be.” And if you get away from the terrorism and mass murder, al- Qai’da is a transnational affinity group, right? Read More ›

How Many Phone Services Needed?

If WorldCom goes bankrupt, will we have enough telephone companies? Do we have the right number of supermarkets, fast food restaurants and hotels? Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else knows, but the private enterprise market system sorts it out and gives us approximately what we need, where we need it. For each type of business, there is an optimum Read More ›

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This image was a complete experiment. I wasn’t what the final pic would look like. Essentially this is a photo of my daughter’s My Little Pony fibre-optic tree viewed through a prism. The prism was propped up on a couple of empty wine bottles and some tins of baked beans. I think the effect works!
Photo by John Adams at Unsplash

The Rise and Fall of the Ebbers Empire

WorldCom, one-time poster-boy telecom firm for the New Economy, lies in ruins. Its 19-year saga mirrors that of the once-vibrant long-distance industry. Its imminent demise, while hastened by scandal, was inevitable. The seedlings of WorldCom were planted on January 8, 1982 when Charles Brown, last chairman of legendary Ma Bell, capitulated to antitrust chief William Baxter. Facing imminent defeat in Read More ›

Unleash Broadband

WorldCom’s impending $40 billion bankruptcy should galvanize Washington to this simple fact: For the last two years we have suffered not a mild recession but a technology depression. With 34 major bankruptcies so far and 24 more expected, the collapsing communications industry — 17% of the economy — is the prime source of a $4 trillion dollar decline in the Read More ›