Ben Stein says the economy is fine ... but corporate governance isn't

The doomsayers are coming out of the woodwork after last week's market downturn, but Ben Stein remains bullish in his latest column for The New York Times. More Americans own their own homes than ever before, and most people who want jobs have them.

But as Stein points out, the subprime mess that has enveloped some of the top investment banks has brought to our attention a more serious problem: Corporate governance in America basically doesn't exist: "Those at the top can blame anyone they like for their companies' imprudence, but they are ultimately responsible. Why are they still in their jobs? Not one C.E.O. of a major commercial or investment bank has lost his job despite some staggering write-downs. Why? Is this the board of directors' old buddy system at work? Sure looks like it."

And he complains, as I have been too lately, that the SEC doesn't appear to be doing much in the way of going after these banks which appear to have engaged in accounting that could be characterized as aggressive at best.

So yeah, the economy may be fine. And if you're a long-term investor, you shouldn't even think about selling your index funds now -- history has demonstrated amply that market timing doesn't work.

But we should be concerned about what the most recent scandals have taught us about corporate governance and corporate ethics. Enron ain't as far behind as we perhaps thought.