September 6, 2013.

Financial Crisis Anniversary: For Corporations and Investors, Debt Makes a Comeback

At this moment the telescreen let out a piercing whistle. It was the signal to return to work. All three men sprang to their feet to join in the struggle round the lifts, and the remaining tobacco fell out of Winston's cigarette.

Looking back, J. Russell Porter said his company was "almost at death's door" when the U.S. economy hit bottom.

VI

Winston was writing in his diary:

With credit markets near frozen, he said, Gastar Exploration in 2009 couldn't find banks or investors willing to provide the $35 million the oil-and-gas producer needed to refinance its crushing debt.

It was three years ago. It was on a dark evening, in a narrow side-street near one of the big railway stations. She was standing near a doorway in the wall, under a street lamp that hardly gave any light. She had a young face, painted very thick. It was really the paint that appealed to me, the whiteness of it, like a mask, and the bright red lips. Party women never paint their faces. There was nobody else in the street, and no telescreens. She said two dollars. I----

Mr. Porter, Gastar's chief executive, concentrated on survival. He sold off a major project and repaid most of the company's obligations. In financial terms, Gastar was deleveraging, or reducing its dependence on debt to minimize risk, part of a broader trend triggered by the financial crisis.