Target: Private Enterprise

William Anderson compares the private sector to public sector when it comes to crime:

Take the Ken Lay case, for example. The feds are trying to claim that his sales of Enron stock in the fall of 2001 were part of a scheme to commit fraud. Lay admits to selling the stock, and that issue is not in dispute. However, he says that he was selling stock to raise cash to satisfy payments for margin calls on other investments. Furthermore, he also was purchasing Enron stock all the way to the company’s collapse.

Lay also encouraged Enron employees to purchase Enron stock, which the feds claim is proof of fraud. Yet, that proves nothing, since Lay was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Moreover, there is no way that Enron employees could have purchased enough stock due to Lay’s exhortations to artificially prop up the stock price, as the feds contend.

In other words, there clearly exists a mens rea problem here. In fact, most “white collar” cases not only run into the issue of mens rea, but the even tougher issue of whether or not the disputed activity even can be defined as a crime. Furthermore, if the political classes are so concerned about “deceitful” business practices, then why is it legal for the government to carry literally trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities, something that would be illegal in the private sector? Why is it legal for the U.S. government to hide expenditures in “off-budget” entities? Why is it legal for the U.S. Government and the Federal Reserve System to engage in activities to artificially prop up the value of the dollar while at the same time accusing managers and business owners of the “crime” of “artificially” propping up stock prices?

When you have a monopoly you play by different rules.MisesInstitute