IRVINE, CA--"The recent problems at WorldCom and Enron are being used by anti-capitalists to impose more crippling regulations on innocent businessmen," said Dr. Onkar Ghate, resident fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute.
      "The only laws needed to deal with actual corporate wrongdoing," Dr. Ghate said, "already exist, namely, laws against breach of contract and fraud. But the anti-capitalists are not demanding that existing laws be applied against individuals who may have committed fraud. They are clamoring that the SEC and other government agencies be granted even more power to dictate to all businessmen--most of whom are honest--how they must run their businesses.
      "The unjust premise at work here," explained Dr. Ghate, "is a secularized version of Original Sin: as a selfish profit-seeker, a businessman is branded as guilty before he even acts. So the government must step in and, despite having no specific evidence of wrongdoing against a businessman, force him to be "good."
      "But the truth is the opposite," said Dr. Ghate. "The selfish pursuit of profit is a noble activity. We should get out of the way of the real producers by repealing the regulations which stifle them. Then the true wealth creators will once again enjoy the freedom that has made America the world's most prosperous country."

ARI resident fellow Onkar Ghate is available for interviews on this topic.