A fundamental issue has been raised recently in connection with the status of quot;independent accountants.quot; The issue involves a new breed of few very large accounting firms. These firms are engaged in global commerce and finance, and cater to an important segment of multinational...

The statement "trust but verify" seems self-contradictory, as "trust" means reliance without the need to verify. This paper discusses the use of this statement including by President Reagan and the possible origin of the statement. The paper concludes that the word "verify" limits or eliminates...

Rarely has a change in the environment affected society as dramatically as the Internet. It has transformed the way we retain, transfer, and exchange information. At minimal cost, the Internet offers us far more information at a faster pace than ever before. It enables us to interact around the...

The Internet transcends boundaries and time, reduces and shifts the cost of receiving and disseminating information. It poses unusual pressures of change on the common law. Internet jurisprudence demonstrates the vitality of the common law, yet highlighted its limitations. The Article describes...

This Essay proposes changing future government examinations of market intermediaries and focusing on bubbles and crashes as the main dangers to the financial system and the economy. Prior substantive regulation has an undesirable effect on innovations and freedom of the markets. Regulating after...

In a Ponzi scheme, new investments are used to pay existing investors, to cover the cost of salespersons, and to finance the Ponzi schemer's satisfying lifestyle. Although Charles Ponzi recruited investors in Boston in 1919 and died in 1949, his design and mode of operation are alive and well...

This Essay represents a version of a chapter in my forth coming book "Trust and Honesty, America's Business Culture at a Crossroad." In designing legal protection from breach of trust and deception lawyers and judges have not only used this branch of economics as an information source but also...

This Article focuses on unifying fiduciary law in Civil Law and the Common Law systems. The problems that fiduciary law addresses are similar throughout history and in all societies. However, the legal systems which address these problems differ. While in the Common Law fiduciary law is founded...

Throughout history, the relationship between government regulation, investors' trust in the securities markets, and market prices has been a puzzle. Regulation is costly to issuers. Yet, in a bull market, when raising capital is easy, regulation relaxes and in a bear market, when raising capital...