It is doubtful Conseco Inc. will regain its status as a major player in the insurance industry or retain its role as a powerful corporate citizen in central Indiana, said Patrick Barkey, director of economic and public policy at Ball State.

"No one grows as a result of a bankruptcy," Barkey said. "If it survives as an Indianapolis-based insurance company, it could grow again, but that is highly speculative.

"It would be a stretch to say that this bankruptcy can be laid at the feet of the economy," he said. "The recession ended in 2001, the housing market has never really tailed off and for the last four quarters the economy has grown at an average of 3 percent."

Conseco Inc., struggling under more than $6 billion in debt, became the third-largest U.S. bankruptcy Wednesday - behind WorldCom and Enron - as the insurance and loan firm sought protection from creditors while it sells its finance unit and tries to restructure itself.

The company, based in Carmel, Ind., has been hurting since the 1990s due to several questionable acquisitions, including the 1998 purchase of Green Tree Financial, which financed mobile home purchases. The deal exposed Conseco to a mountain of bad loans.

"The big profits of the 1990s allowed the company to override poor management decisions in the past," Barkey said. "But really this doesn't have much to do with the insurance business. It's just poor management and management oversight."

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Barkey at pbarkey@bsu.eduor (765) 285-5926.)