Anybody remember Enron? Anybody remember all those OTHER companies that were caught with their accounting pants down? Man, what was going on? What made them think they could get away with it?
There is no way not to think about Enron when listening to The Voysey Inheritance. Here's the story: Daddy Voysey gives his son, the one who is going to take over his investment firm for him, some papers that show how the business really works. That is, the business has not protected the capital other have invested in it. They continue to pay the dividends to the investors, but the capital supposedly producing the income no longer exists. And Daddy Voysey tells the horrified son that his father started the business that way, and handed it on to him. So, he hands it on to his son the same way.
Okay, this is Victorian England, but does it matter? How different is now? Hmm...Voysey jr. has to think about what to do. What's the true justice? To go to jail? or stay and try to amass the capital again, keep on paying off the interest to the people who are relying on it? Going to jail won't restore the money to the investors.
This story also explores what makes people trust others. Why did so many people keep giving Daddy Voysey the money? THis is a great story.
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