A number of readers have written in to argue that there’s nothing wrong or out of the ordinary with the document shredding Arthur Andersen’s accountants did over at Enron. One even tells me it’s standard operating procedure over at Ernst & Young where his sister works.
Be that as it may, I feel pretty vindicated by today’s announcement that Arthur Andersen has summarily fired David B. Duncan, the lead partner on the Enron account.
Another reader points out yet another interesting fact. It turns out that David B. Duncan and Kenneth L. Lay are both on the board of directors of the American Council for Capital Formation.
Now it’s important to note, the ACCF is neither part of nor connected with the United States Institute for Economic Efficiencies, the Academy of Trickle-Down Sciences, the Center for Deregulation and Frictionless Markets, or the Club for Growth. (Actually, here’s where the joke breaks down, because there really is a Club for Growth – it’s a supply-side pressure group that gangs up on normal Republicans in the Northeast … )
In all seriousness, I’m really all for markets, capitalism, and capital formation. (In a round about way it’s one of the reasons I’m now freelancing rather than at my old job.) And to prove it, I’ll even make a direct pitch to support Talking Points Memo with an easy online donation!!!
And if that’s not enough, to fill the void left in the frictionless commodity market world by the Enron collapse, tomorrow we’ll debuting our new online market in Ken Lay and David Duncan prison term years.
