May 17, 2007

AEI's Alex Pollock writes on American.com:

[W]e can say there are two competing theories:

A. Sarbanes-Oxley is bad for investors because the costs are excessive relative to the benefits, and

B. Sarbanes-Oxley is good for investors because it protects them and makes them willing to pay more for securities.

Theory B is usually used as an argument for keeping Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 mandatory, but it is actually a great argument for making it voluntary.