The United States Supreme Court has just heard the appeal of Jeffrey Skilling, former chief executive officer of energy giant Enron, which collapsed in 2001. He is currently imprisoned for fraud. Skilling and Chairman Ken Lay, now deceased, were central to an exceptionally risk-oriented corporate culture.

At least some of the justices appear to be sympathetic to the argument that jury selection for Skilling's trial was too cursory and the law involved too vague. His sentence may be reduced or even overturned.

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has just proposed financial reform legislation that is enormous even by the bloated standards of our contemporary Congress. An alphabet soup of new agencies and arrangements are envisioned.

Most important, Dodd would end the relative independence in political terms of the Federal Reserve Board by expanding Senate influence in selecting members of the regional bank boards around the nation and requiring approval of their chairmen.