The above is an assessment and warning by The Economist in the context of the collapse of Enron, placed 5th in the latest Fortune 500 rankings of American companies. A number of other disclosures including that of Tyco International, Adelphia Communications, Computer Associates, Qwest Communications, Global Crossing and now WorldCom further deepened the scepticism about the state of affairs in corporate America. Managements, auditors and intermediaries are under the scanner. According to Fortune, Arthur Levitt, former head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said: "America's investors have been ripped off as massively as a.
