How is it possible that the Security and Exchange Commission could have missed Madoff’s Ponzi scheme of perhaps $50 billion? How many more examples of failures of government oversight are going to surface in the next several months, years? And why is Madoff out on bail?

Update 1  This NY Times article finally explains how the SEC and several other ‘watchdog’ agencies missed it all - a systemic problem?

Update 2:  Reader FDRHist  writes: ...” the accountant who tried to tell the SEC about Madoff had a phrase that went something like this: If you took the whole staff of the SEC up to Boston and then to Fenway Park and showed them the field,they still could not tell you where first base was...”