Enron With What Is Going

Enron

With what is going on now with the looming debt crisis and the continuous tug of war between Congress and the Executive Branch of the United States, I am not surprised or shocked at all with how the Enron executives and the accounting firm Arthur Andersen conducted themselves. Add to this is how those "top executives" of multinational companies contributed to the global financial recession that occurred in 2008. What they all have in common is cognitive dissonance where what they are doing is very much different from their beliefs. In Enron's case, the head honchos of the company were put at the helm to ensure business continuity and corporate resilience but through their greed, they ran the company to the ground. The same attitudes -- especially greed, were apparent during the financial collapse a couple of years ago and what is going on now with the tussle between the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. government.

The implementation of the SOX Act following the Enron fiasco was a reactive legislation that served to "closed the barn door" after the horse has fled. Nonetheless, the law brought more stringent measures in accounting reporting and ensure that the big bosses of corporations are more accountable with their actions. As to full effectiveness, SOX may not have considered everything else since the same "captains of various industries" have repeated history with regards to the financial collapse of late. Thus, there should be additional laws that will guarantee that the Enron case and the financial crisis will and should never happen again. This may be easier said than done considering American political leaders and corporate executives are in the same bed together protecting each others' backs. But if we truly want real changes to ensure that the nation becomes great again, then it is high time real laws with teeth be ratified no matter who will be affected. If I was a legislator, I will be doing this act and I will not be swayed or affected by friends and lobbyists alike.

Response to Ji Woo Chai: Indeed, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was able to put in place controls and measures to prevent the reoccurrence of the Enron scandal. However, there has to be more done because of what occurred before and during the financial crisis. Thus, there may be a need to amend the SOX Act or ratify a new law altogether.

Response to Diana Rakadzhieva1: I agree, no matter how many laws or control mechanisms are put in place, there will still be people who will try to find ways of getting away with things. The new laws and technologies will of course make it more difficult for these nefarious groups and individuals to do their misdeeds. In due time though, they will stop at nothing from engaging into their self-serving actions.

Response to Diana Rakadzhieva2: It seems that Jeffrey Skilling's son, John Skilling, has better morals and values than his father. He may have felt the burden of his father's wrongdoings that he could not face the shame and resorted to what he may deemed then to be the only escape. Too bad John did not heed the adage that, "the sins of the father are not the sins of the son."