The ethics industry has been booming ever since the US Sentencing Commission ruled that one of the things courts had to take into consideration when bringing bad companies to book was whether they had an ethics and compliance program. It's not just great news for auditors, lawyers and consultants! Seems to be plenty of work too for ex-white collar criminals now out on the speakers' circuit teaching ethics. Who said crime doesn't pay?

But even though the courts now hand down stiffer sentences, the inconsistencies in prison sentences for white collar crooks, which vary from judge to judge, suggest we are struggling with the issue. As Ohio State University law professor Douglas Berman said: "We've never figured out what we think about white-collar offenders. We're not sure how we [should] judge them." Maybe that explains those reports about former media mogul Conrad Black not looking too worried about charges of skimming $80m off Hollinger International, charges that if proven could earn him a spell in jail. Black maintains he is innocent.

William Kline, director of the Center for Business Ethics at Molloy College says new laws and regulations will not solve the problem. What business needs, he says, is its own version of the Hippocratic Oath. Just one problem: what do you with the ones who break it?

Still, Kline's point raises an interesting question. Do you think Governments can legislate ethics?