Submitted by George Ou, Jan 25, 2007 04:08

"I question the view that financial scandals are isolated cases in an otherwise robust system. These ‘negative externalities', as economists describe them, have generated a spirit of lawlessness that threatens the integrity of the market system.The victims often include the most vulnerable people on the planet: pensioners and the proverbial widows and orphans."

Those people that perpetrated those crimes were all sentenced and punished. While I agree that accounting should have strict standards, it's shocking to hear that the NYSE fell from 1st to 3rd place for IPOs. Surely we can have accountability without killing investment and surely we can have some reform. What's the point of having laws when we're ready to shoot ourselves in the foot economically?

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