UT and Lehman Brothers
Students financing the for-profit prison-industrial complex
Lehman Brothers is a global investment bank notorious for its financial support of the for-profit prison industry. It has used financial schemes, similar to accounting tricks used at Enron, to invigorate private prison corporations such as CCA and Cornell. UT and other universities finance Lehman Brothers, indirectly resulting in the expansion of the for-profit prison industry.
UT, in its quest for new and expansive building projects that runs contrary to most universities, does business with Lehman Brothers, who do bond underwriting for these projects. These bonds are used to generate revenue for UT to pay for these buildings. They act essentially as IOUs, with UT selling the bonds off to investors and repaying the debt over time. Tuition revenue bonds (September 1991. "Of Budgets and Balderdash." Polemicist. Page 5.), which are repaid with tuition over time, are key factors partially behind rising tuition. The total dollar amount of bonds that UT has taken out from the fourth quarter of 1999 to the third quarter of 2001 total over $876 million
Lehman Brothers, as shown below, receive lucrative payments from UT to arrange the selling of these bonds at your expense!
UT's ties to the private prison industry’s #1 deal-maker, global investment bank, Lehman Brothers:
| Year/Quarter | University and Issuer of bonds | Total $ (millions) | Notes/Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-Q3 | University of Texas | 176.61 | Higher ed bonds, MSRB |
| 2002-Q1 | University of Texas | 101.75 | Higher ed bonds, GJF |
| 1998-Q3 | University of Texas | 188.22 | Higher ed bonds, MSRB |
Information sources: Municipal Securities and Rulemaking Board and www.munistatements.com. Taken from a Not With Our Money table.
More:
An excellent resource on Lehman Brothers and the campaign against them:
Not With Our Money!