“From War To Corporate Misdeeds”

A visit of the U.S. President George W. Bush on July 9 to New York Wall Street, the heart of the American economy, in a bid to propose measures to deal with bursting accounting scandals was harshly criticized by the press and economic experts.

In his speech addressing corporate and business investors President Bush urged the related organs to carry out strict investigations into corporate misdeeds and punish corporate leaders and CEOs.

The U.S. broadcasting company MSNBC reported that many analysts and investors considered Bush’s proposal too insufficient and coming too late.

Bloomberg Communications cited Eliot Speech, President of the New York State Public Prosecutors Office, as saying that President Bush failed to move the ball forward. Bloomberg Communications also added that the weak proposals of the Bush administration who has been criticized for pampering corporations were to disappointing.

“I thought the President spoke loudly," said Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader, "but he offered a very, very small stick. "The financial market as well assessed the President’s proposal as merely a “summary” of financial analysts’ ideas.

The New York Times wrote on July 10 that the President’s “words were harsh, but his proposals were generally not”, adding that “the legislative proposal to create a new felony that would prohibit any scheme or artifice to defraud shareholders would make it easier to make convictions.

The New York Times also wrote that the creation of the task force did not necessarily mean that more F.B.I. agents or prosecutors would be assigned to such cases.

On the day President Bush visited Wall Street the prices on the New York stock market plunged after his remarks. The newspaper described the atmosphere on the Wall Street as gloomy, saying that the stock prices that were very high in the beginning started to plummet as the President proceeded with his speech.

konihong@donga.com