On Wednesday, July 10, 2002, the Wall Street Journal reported the following headlines:

Securities Threat1
Bush Crackdown on Business Fraud Signals New Era
Stream of Corporate Scandals Causes Bipartisan Outrage; Return of Big Government?
Fiery Rhetoric on Wall Street

President Bush’s tongue-lashing of big business marks a swing of the American political pendulum away from a quarter-century of bipartisan deference to capitalists. “We will use the full weight of the law to expose and root out corruption.”
“Book-cooking” has eroded “the trust and the confidence that is absolutely vital to the function of our capital markets,” Rep. Patrick Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said.

Required
Discuss the role of accounting regulation. Why is trust vital to the function of our capital markets?