We are now at the first anniversary of Mr. Madoff’s arrest, and, disappointingly, very little has been done to prevent future Madoffs. But future Madoffs are predictable. Annual losses from Ponzi schemes in the U.S. appear to regularly exceed $1 billion, and, prior to Mr. Madoff, the record year was 2002 when losses exceeded $9.6 billion.1 That level of loss justifies more serious reforms than have yet been adopted by the SEC.
