Trust in business continues to fall with a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll showing people now have less faith in the corporate world with only 18 per cent of people saying business executives had high or very high ethical standards (compared with 69 per cent who felt the same about doctors and 84 per cent who said it about nurses). Indeed, 27 per cent ranked business people as having low or very low ethical standards, putting them in the same league as lawyers, insurance salesmen and HMO Managers.

Another interesting part about the survey is that members of Congress are doing really badly but then, that's to be expected with all the scandals of 2006. Just ask Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Mark Foley.

Still, the alarming part is the reputation of business executives. Their rating has fallen despite the most far-reaching changes in corporate governance. If Sarbanes-Oxley was supposed to be about restoring investor confidence, it's failed.

The ongoing backdating scandals and the flood of massive executive packages would not have helped.