What Corporate Cleanup?
biz.yahoo.com
<<...RHETORIC OF REFORM. And Bush's conservative economic advisers remain convinced that many reforms would do more harm than good. "We [need] better transparency, better accountability, and improved governance," says chief White House economist R. Glenn Hubbard. "Beyond that, there's not really a role for government."
That view is widely shared by Hill Republicans. To avoid Democratic charges of complacency, however, the House GOP has pushed through bills that adopt the rhetoric of reform but mandate few meaningful changes. And while many Senate Democrats favor stronger steps, they lack the votes to propel them to passage. "It is becoming increasingly clear that we may not get real reform," frets Senator Jon S. Corzine [D-N.J.]...>>
<<..."RESTORATION OF TRUST." The lack of strong, visible leadership on accounting and market reforms in Washington has left investors wondering what sort of shield they'll have against the next wave of corporate abuses. The drumbeat of SEC investigations only serves to scare investors away from the market.
As long as Washington dithers, investors don't have any reassurance that the corporate numbers game will end soon. "We need a restoration of trust from every entity," including government, says Byron R. Wien, senior investment strategist at Morgan Stanley. But as Bush once observed, trust is not a commodity in great supply in Washington these days...>> |
