Economists who talk of Gresham’s law, Okun’s law and “the law of one price” might ignore the most important law in economics – that of unintended consequences. New legislation, in particular, often affects the economy in unforeseen ways. The Sarbanes-Oxley bill of 2002 is just the latest in a long string of examples.
Many historical cases were positive. The 1862 Morrill Act, which granted land to states that established “colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts,” eventually caused enormous increases in agricultural productivity. It also revolutionized the structure of U.S. higher education.
The Homestead Act, passed the same year, together with land-grant subsidies for railroad construction, speeded settlement of the West, with both good and ill effects.
In the 20th century, the 1944 Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, or GI Bill, wrought changes far beyond those intended by the drafters. Driven by fears of a return to the Depression, it included educational benefits to keep newly demobilized veterans out of the labor market.
The bill changed higher education from a privilege enjoyed by a mostly wealthy few to something to which anyone could aspire. The nation benefited from a more skilled work force. The capacity of U.S. universities and colleges expanded.
The guaranteed mortgage provision of the GI Bill sparked a postwar building boom and revolutionized home-mortgage financing.
The unintended effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley bill are more prosaic. Drafted to correct corporate governance problems revealed by Enron and other scandals, its greatest effects appear to be improved employment and incomes for accountants.
The increased requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley — particularly Section 404, which requires firms to assess their internal controls — are transforming the accounting industry.
Large firms have so much more work from major corporate clients that they are pushing their smaller customers out the door. These spurned clients flow down to the next tier of accounting firms, which in turn push their smaller accounts out the door. The cascade continues all the way to one-person firms getting business that no one else will take.
This is wonderful for accountants’ employment and income. Smart graduating accounting majors get multiple job offers and signing bonuses.
Burgeoning revenues for accounting firms combined with rising salaries and good employment prospects may be welcome in the accounting industry, but are not necessarily good news for society as a whole. Poorly thought-through legislation may be simply wasting resources.
To the extent that beefed-up corporate governance could improve the efficiency of capital usage in the economy, Sarbanes-Oxley requirements conceivably might boost economic productivity. If the law motivates useless paper shuffling, then it wastes resources that would be more fruitful elsewhere. It is time for Congress to take a second look.
© 2005 Edward Lotterman
Chanarambie Consulting, Inc.