Volcker's integrity alone seems to be sustaining the world's most infamous accounting firm.
Hans Tietmeyer, who headed the Bundesbank between 1993 and 1999, also maintains the air of gravitas so many former economic officials crave. Since his departure, Tietmeyer has chosen his media contacts carefully and managed to keep his reputation intact.
Former Treasury chief Robert Rubin's own walk-on-water status unraveled along with Enron's fortunes. Ill-conceived phone calls by Rubin, now chairman of the executive committee and Citigroup Inc, to current US Treasury officials to bolster support for Enron weren't his finest moment. The affair dented his fabled run at Treasury from 1995 to 1999.
The knowledge and experience one amasses while in government can indeed provide interesting insights in the years that follow.
Too often, though, the ones that have the least to offer tend to be the ones from whom we hear the most.
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