When we consider the respective roles and responsibilities of government and the private sector in maintaining compliance with the laws of the land, it becomes evident that there are big stakes on all sides. This includes the public, whom the laws are intended to protect, and who must pay for this protection in the end.

Several years ago a man by the name of Charles Schultze wrote an insightful little treatise called "Public Use of Private Interest" (Brookings Institute, 1977). Schultze pointed out the great importance of maintaining the proper balance between government and the private sector in achieving desired social goals and of the adverse consequences of having this balance shift too far one way or the other.