Catherwood LibraryILR School

As the Chinese government continues to transition to a more capitalistic economy, workers who were guaranteed economic security in return for a lifetime of work are being increasingly left out in the cold. In what has become a disturbingly common occurrence in China, workers are forced to buy worthless stock, which they are forbidden to resell, in the debt-ridden companies that employ them. The local government officials and managers---who exaggerate the worth of the stock in order to encourage employees to invest more of their life-savings---maintain a controlling interest and oftentimes make immense profits on false bankruptcy filings that devastate their employees. No link between these Chinese government officials and high-ranking Enron officials has been reported.