So, large slices of schadenfreude all round as Bernie Ebbers gets used to some very new surroundings http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4680221.stm
Can't say I have one iota of sympathy for the guy - he doesn't deserve any. Anyone who can have enough hubris to think he can get away with what he tried deserves 25 years of clink for taking the p*** with shareholders' money. And all the other C-Suite arrogant types who've been caught out these last few years (think Martha Stewart, Jeff Skilling et al), too.
What do they have in common, apart from being alumni of the Leona Helmsley School of PR (remember her? - "only little people pay taxes"? ) ? Arrogance in spades from lives and careers in which they've probably regularly got away with illegal/immoral stuff and therefore begun to believe that they really are above the law and can do anything they want.
And that's an unhealthy cultural paradigm not unique to these guys. They just happen to be the ones who got caught.
Look at all the Wall St settlements lately - they clearly show they're almost all at it ALL the time! Trouble is they think because they can get away with it most of the time, it's ok. Essentially they have a Spartan code of ethics - it's not what you do, it's getting caught that's punished.
Remedy for all this? More ethics classes in top schools (get them early) and make it compulsory on all MBA courses. Plus high-profile ads on TV reminding financial folks they're being watched - as the ICAC in Hong Kong used to do (their ads featured businessmen being jailed for corruption). They built up real fear among business people which deterred those who could be. Those who will do it regardless will never be deterred. Let Eliot Sptizer and Co. deal with them.
As for Mr Ebbers, well Bernie, we have news for you - the shower soap ain't in a gold dish any longer and you better be careful when you reach down for it cowboy!
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