It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....Charles Dickens
Erik Keller describes Sarbanes Oxley in French Revolution terms. In a comment he says "the rage that the average person has had for the cascade of examples trotted out over the years." I have heard others defend SOX in similar "justice" terms. Big is bad. We are making Immelt and McNealy and other CEOs look as guilty as Lay and Ebbers.
But that street justice is costing plenty as I write in this recently published article - Sarbanes-Oxley - $ 10 billion a word?
In Dickens' book, England became a safety valve for various people wanting to escape the Bastille and the Guillotine. The London Stock Exchange has similarly benefited from our version of the Bastille. Of course, we could export the revolution. With Nasdaq trying to acquire the LSE and Europe's own often aggressive compliance initiatives, the possibility is not remote.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. Even if we promise the masses they can eat cake.
