Parmalat
You think big sleaze, you think Enron,
Of course, how could you not?
But if you seek a stronger reek,
Check Europe’s Parmalat.
This corp’rate totem of a town
Made famous by its cheeses,
Has earned a brand new sobriquet:
‘The king of Dairy Fleecers.’
Parmalat, Parmalat,
Its books have major flaws.
Parmalat, fudged a lot,
EU’s accounting laws.
It played the offshore banking game
That Enron played so well;
Like Enron it had auditors
Who vouched that things were swell;
Like Enron, too, it had good friends
In government and media;
But in these realms it proved itself
Both greedier and seedier.
Parmalat, Parmalat,
Its team played world-class soccer;
Parmalat’s, bookkeeping,
Produced a real shocker.
We all love family businesses
Whose founders run them still;
Except when they go public
And these guys empty the till;
A founder’s generosity
That makes the world more sunny,
Ain’t no big gesture of noblesse
With other’s people’s money.
Parmalat, Parmalat,
You’ve evened Enron’s score;
Parmalat, E.U.’s rot,
Its market’s oozing sore.
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