GERHARD SCHROEDER, reports Mickey Kaus is saying that the various U.S. accounting scandals prove that American-style shareholder capitalism is inferior to the European approach.

Anyone who believes this should read David Ignatius’s article on the Elf-Aquitaine scandal from last months’ Legal Affairs. That scandal — with its mafia-like behavior by government officials — suggests that European-style state capitalism has little to brag about in the scandal department. Indeed, the eagerness of American politicians to respond to things like WorldCom and Enron, compared with the coverups in the Elf-Aquitaine matter, suggests the opposite.