Maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time. But then, it was so stupid and flawed that the time must have been 2am!

Pilloried by congressmen and the banking industry, the Securities and Exchange has decided to suspend its web site linking companies to state sponsors of terrorism of Cuba, Iran, north korea, Sudan and Syria.

The whole thing was ridiculous and smacked of McCarthyism.

Companies were worried it would be used against them regardless of what was actually going on. The big problem with the ridiculous list was that some companies were named even after they had discontinued their operations in those countries. It's a point raised last week in my blog entry here.

In his statement, SEC chairman Christopher Cox said the regulator had taken it down and was looking at various alternatives including canvassing business and public opinion on how to best go about the exercise.

Which is something they should have done in the first place. But then, maybe they should first get rid of Joe McCarthy's ghost.