Is it just that I'm a touchy American, or do I detect a hint of
schadenfreude
in the voices of my European friends these days? First that New Economy icon Enron, then swashbuckling empire builder WorldCom and now even sad old, out-of-step Xerox each new revelation of creative accounting and vastly overstated earnings is another blow to the credibility of corporate America. The prospects for a robust recovery in both the stock market and the economy are looking dimmer. Americans are not only poorer than we were or thought we were just a couple of years ago,...
