After Enron: Lessons for Public Policy

After Enron first describes the conditions that led to the collapse of Enron and other corporate scandals and the concerns that these developments raised among the public, the press, and political officials. The book then describes and evaluates the initial private and public responses to these developments and concludes that most of these responses were unnecessary, harmful, or inadequate. There are four major lessons learned during the post-Enron scandal era: Don't count too much on financial accounting. Don't count too much on auditing. The tax system is an important part of the problem. The rules of corporate governance do not adequately serve the interests of general shareholders. After Enron addresses the major lessons for public policy affecting accounting, auditing, taxation, and corporate government. It proposes a set of policy changes to address the lessons learned from the Enron scandal. The first major set of proposed changes would delegate the authority to establish and monitor accounting and disclosure standards to each stock exchange. A second major proposal would replace the corporate income tax with a cash flow tax. And a final set of proposed policy changes would replace the rules of corporate governance that are now biased against the interest of the general shareholders. The most distinctive feature of the book is that the major proposed policy changes would address the problems illustrated by the corporate scandals by reducing and focusing the role of government.

After Enron addresses the major lessons about accounting, auditing, taxation, and corporate governance that are illustrated by the collapse of Enron and other recent major corporate scandals. The book then develops a set of proposals for changes in public policy that would lead accountants, bankers, board members, lawyers, and corporate managers to better serve the interests of the general public.

William A. Niskanen has been the chairman of the Cato Institute since 1985, following service as a member and acting chairman of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors. He had previously served in two other federal positions, as director of economics of the Ford Motor Company, and as a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and Los Angeles. He currently resides on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Kathryn.