Greed is Good -- Gordon Gecko

Here is a blog entry from Barry Ritholtz pointing out that the SEC seems to have eased back on fraud investigations during the Bush years. Isn't that odd. You have a financial meltdown and a $50 billion Ponzi scheme during this same period of "self regulation" which the Republicans boasted would re-vitalize the American economy and lead to fantastic wealth for everyone as this new idea of downsized government unleashed the "entrepreneurial spirit":

Security Fraud Prosecutions Down 87% Since 2000

from The Big Picture by Barry Ritholtz

Some toothless watchdog:

This year, the S.E.C. has brought the fewest number of securities fraud prosecutions since 1991. That’s according to the data that the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research group at Syracuse University, has amassed.

Soft on White Collar Crime, by the Numbers:

• 2008 had 133 prosecutions for securities fraud (thru Dec 1) versus 437 cases in 2000, a 70% drop. Form the peak of 513 in 2002, prosecutions are down by 74%;

• S.E.C. investigations that led to Justice Depart prosecutions for securities fraud dropped from 69 in 2000 to just 9 in 2007, a decline of 87%.

• Non criminal prosecutions (i.e., fines) for white collar crimes increased – from 503 in 2000 to 636 in 2008 – a 26.4% increase.

• “Deferred prosecution agreements” — essentially an agreement not to prosecute, so long as the accused stays out of further trouble;

Check out the entire blog entry. Ritholtz points you to a source article in the NY Times.