SEC: The Country's in the Very Best of Hands

Unlike many others, Professor Bainbridge doesn't think that President Obama's plans to massively increase government control over the financial industry are the reason for the exact timing of the Goldman Sachs investigation by the SEC.  Rather, the timing is intended to cover up continued bungling and corruption within the SEC itself.  From the Wall Street Journal:

Last Friday, the same day that the government unexpectedly announced its Goldman lawsuit, the SEC's inspector general released his exhaustive, 151-page report on the agency's failure to investigate alleged fraudster R. Allen Stanford. Mr. Stanford was indicted last June for operating a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $8 billion. He has pleaded not guilty.

Guess which of these two stories was pushed to the back pages? The SEC did its part by publishing the Stanford report so deep in its Web site that more than a few of our readers had trouble finding it. Yesterday, the SEC management's response to the report was available on the agency's homepage, yet it provided no links to the report itself.

Little wonder. . . .

Follow the links for details. It seems odd to me that people who fear the power of Big Business are often so eager to turn even more power over to Big Government.