Silicon Insider: What Economic Recovery?

March 5 -- I'm normally an optimistic person. But when it comes to business and technology, there has always been something contrary in my nature.

When everyone I know was convinced that the dot-com boom would go on forever, I was selling every share I could. Conversely, in the face of growing pessimism about the economy, I've been positively sunny about the future.

Now, with everyone from economists to corporate executives gleefully announcing that the recession is finally over, I guess I should feel vindicated. Instead, I feel that old contrariness kicking in again.

Not that I have any doubt that we are about to enter another high-tech boom — one that may be, remarkably, not only bigger than the last one, but better managed by the players. But getting there will be tricky.

There are a lot of potential potholes, any of which we can tumble into, that will keep us from realizing all that is possible from this next wave. Here are those things I fear may keep the newly airborne economy merely a biplane and not a rocket:

An Auditor Anchor: Now that Enron's top management is being publicly crucified in front of Congress, I'm guessing that before it's all over, Kenneth Lay and crew will be punished not only for their own alleged crimes but for the entire dot-com crash. It's not fair, but probably inevitable.

Of greater concern to me is what is not happening in the accounting world. There have been a few mea culpas and divestitures of businesses by the big auditors, but frankly, most of the damage (in terms of stock price) seems to have fallen on the giant corporations that used their services.

This so-called "investor concern over accounting practices" has acted as a drag anchor on the public markets, just at the time we need them robust enough to support the next wave of public stock offerings.

Instead of this slow bleeding, what we need right now is a joint agreement by the big accounting firms, supported by the Federal Accounting Standards Board, on a new set of industry standards — both in terms of conflict of interest and, more important, regarding the actual content of the audits themselves. And, since FASB reports to the SEC, that uber-agency needs to back up these new standards with the force of law.