ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE MOTU WORLD

In short, there just isn't much.  The financial wizards at the Federal Reserve were clueless about the Housing Bubble yet not one of them has been fired. (h/t Atrios)  Dean Baker put it best:

[A]s noted in the article, many of the people at these Fed meetings are still in top policy making positions. This shows that the U.S. economy still produces good-paying jobs for people without skills.

We all know the accountants forever dirtied themselves in the since 2000 (e.g. Emron, Worldcom, AAA ratings for junk) but the ostensible regulator of these hacks is only now getting some attention:

SEC to put U.S. audit watchdog under microscope
by Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON | Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:08pm EST

(Reuters) - U.S. securities regulators will question the top U.S. audit watchdog about his budget and policy priorities on Wednesday, in a rare public meeting designed to shed more transparency on the agency that has tightened the screws on the auditing profession over the past year.

The meeting at the Securities and Exchange Commission will be styled like a congressional hearing, with Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman James Doty on hand to answer questions and make the case for why the SEC should agree to give the PCAOB a budget boost.