Prophetic words from Duke Law Professor Steven L. Schwarcz, writing in a symposium issue of the University of Cincinnati Law Review (Summer 2002):
“Ultimately, the greatest danger of the Enron debacle is our possible overreaction, and consequent over-regulation. It’s human nature to overreact to dramatic events, like air crashes or, in this case, a landmark bankruptcy. Enron does not, however, represent a systemic problem; conflicts of interest can be managed, and the existence of isolated cases of fraud and bad judgment should not, in and of itself, be a basis to change the legal, financial, and accounting infrastructure of business that has – Enron aside – served us so well.”
A pre-publication version of the article is available here.
