The big problem still exists.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Tilting at Windmills - Accounting reforms - Brief Article

The accounting reforms, however laudable, that have been brought about by Sarbanes- Oxley, do not resolve the basic problem of the industry, points out my friend and former colleague, Joseph Nocera, in his column in The New York Times. That problem is the fact that the accountant is paid by the company being audited. As long as this is so, the accountant is going to be tempted to please the fellows who hired him.

A few years back, this column proposed a...