Paulson's Bad Idea

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson used the occasion of his first major speech to suggest reforming legislation regulating corporations (such as the Sarbanne's-Oxley bill), because in his view such laws dampen business competitiveness (see or hear the NPR story).  In this view, giving corporate governors and executives greater latitude to operate apart from governmental oversight is key to competing on a global stage.  Even for me, something of a libertarian about most things, Paulson's remarks are bad news indeed if they signal a Bush Administration goal of revoking any business regulations before the gang leaves power in 2008.  Maybe it's good that Paulson's public speeches have been infrequent.
The problem is that business, like most other human institutions, seems prone to misbehave absent oversight.  Hell, most even misbehave with oversight.  Revoking regulations, particular those that focus on the transparency of corporate governance, seems like a step in the wrong direction for restoring trust in the business sector.
Going further, Paulson's speech seems to say that to be competitive we must accept a certain, well, squishiness of ethics.  It is logic like this that got the U.S. into Iran-Contra (and that continues to make such ventures thinkable to many on the political right).   It also is of the same cloth as the supporting logic behind Southeast Asian sweatshops (cheap goods) and environmental contamination (not in my back yard).  Hopefully, the new Congress will see through this scheme, assuming that the Administration doesn't blitz through a ton of such "reforms" before the end of the year.  Better get used to more Enrons if they don't.