Ethical corporate behavior is a recurring public policy issue. Recent events have brought this issue to the forefront, beginning with the Enron scandal in 2001 and more recently the financial crisis of 2008. Subsequent regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, appear to be a reaction to public demands for government action following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. painful economic consequences. A closer look at the events leading up to Enron and the financial crisis both seem to indicate that government agencies were asleep at the controls. Policies such as Sarbanes-Oxley in the wake of Enron did not prevent the more recent financial crisis of 2008. Government social policy did not encourage ethical corporate responsibility but rather enforced poor business practices. Responsible social policy, effective government oversight, and strict corporate accountability for misconduct will ensure economic stability in the future. Business ethics, in its broadest sense, is a "consensus on what constitutes good or bad behavior in the business world and the application of moral principles." principles to situations that arise in a business context. (Cross and Miller, 2012, p. G-4). Corporations, by their very nature, have a direct responsibility to the shareholders who collectively own the corporation. Although shareholders have the opportunity to direct company policy by participating in shareholder meetings and putting their proposals to a vote, commonly referred to as corporate governance, few shareholders have a direct view of the day-to-day operation of a large company like Enron. The responsibility lies with the board of directors and its officers to exercise the duty of care, the duty of loyalty and disclosure and conflicts of interest that may arise (Cross...... middle of paper... ...is illustrated with an ancient Chinese saying: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Works CitedCross, FB and Miller, RL (2012). : Text and).Case (8th ed.).Elliot, DJ and Bailey, MN (2009) Telling the Story of the Financial Crisis: Not Just a Housing Bubble /papers/2009/11/23%20narrative%20elliott%20baily/1123_narrative_elliott_baily.pdfHart, O. (2009). 10.1111/j.1475-679X.2009.00329.xWallison, P.J. (2011). Three Stories of the Financial Crisis, 31(3), 535-549. live