Ethics

If you're wondering how corporate America was able to bamboozle so many people into throwing their life savings away on worthless investments, part of the answer lies in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which was lobbied into law by the National Investor Relations Institute.

Life is tough these days for corporate executives, sighs US News & World Report. "After being lionized by investors and the media and showered with money and perks for the past decade, corporate officers and directors are now feeling the heat," writes Matthew Benjamin. "To many executives, the job may not be worth the hassle," and many are worried about the legal liabilities that now come with the job.

"After learning that some celebrities who talked on its news programs about their health problems were being paid by drug companies, CNN has issued a new policy and will tell viewers about the stars' financial ties to corporations," New York Times' Melody Petersen writes. In an August 11 Times article, Petersen revealed the widespread testimonial practice. Petersen reports stars like Lauren Bacall and Kathleen Turner "had been paid to help promote drugs or other medical products" on network morning "news" programs.

Dot-com CEOs, day traders and other leading icons of the roaring 1990s are passing from the scene along with the economic bubble that created them, but Baffler editor Tom Frank notes that "one group remains untouched: the public intellectuals of the bull market. The writers of Dow-worshipping books and commentators who handed down daring pronunciamentos from the silicon heights are still cruising from one posh gig to the next.