I have been working with Hank Bessembinder, a finance professor at the University of Utah. Hank is an expert witness in our trial this week in LA. In July, he was a speaker at a conference held in Vietnam. After the conference, he toured the country with some other finance professionals from Vietnam. He noticed that in Vietnam, instead of cars most people ride little motor scooters, which are much cheaper than automobiles to purchase and operate. He asked one of his colleagues what people did when their scooter experienced a flat tire. The person pointed out that on major roads there were numerous shops that specialized in scooter repairs, including changing flat tires. When Hank commented on how this demonstrated the response of a free market to the needs of consumers, his colleague said that his observation was correct, the opening of all these shops did show how in a free market a person acting in his own best interest did fulfill the needs of others, but he added "sometimes they throw tacks in the road."   

Hank, who was also an expert witness in the Enron bankruptcy case said that he thought this quote really summarized Enron. There is good greed and bad greed. The good greed that all of us show in working hard to provide others with what they want so that we can have what we want is symbolized by all the scooter repair shops opened along the roads of Vietnam. But, like Enron, in a free market, there are also people who throw tacks. This is why the rule of law is so important to the functioning of a free market. The rule of law helps to channel greed and steer it toward positive ends. The rule of law seeks to discourage those willing to throw tacks in the road.