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By Dr. David E. McClean, lecturer in philosophy and business ethics, Rutgers University & Molloy College, and Principal, The DMA Consulting Group

Part of the problem was that only in an environment of crisis can the self-regulators galvanize themselves to actions that they couldn't otherwise take. We had Congress pressing us against any of these [difficult reform] initiatives. We had Congress constantly bearing down on the Commission: "Don't take steps which would hurt the firms, don't take steps which would change the way business is being done." ... When Congress sees these scandals taking place ... [it becomes] the latter-day Elmer [Gantry], protecting investors that [it] had abused so badly before.

Arthur Levitt, former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in a Frontline interview with Hedrick Smith January 13, 2003

. . . There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3

Introduction to the 50 Proposals Among other things, I teach business ethics at the university level. I have also been a consultant to Wall Street firms for some 20 years, and have worked in various capacities on the Street since I graduated from high school, in 1979. I know a few thi......................

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