Greed argues that workers have a right to concentrate their investments in their employers' stock because that is what has made many workers and retirees rich in recent years. Enron notwithstanding, the government shouldn't deprive them of that chance.

Since then markets have reminded the nation that they don't always go up. And Enron workers are not the only sufferers. Add employees of Lucent, Polaroid, construction firm Morrison Knudsen, consultants Arthur D. Little and a host of others to those whose savings have been battered by steep declines in their employers' stock.

On the other hand, providing the workers with truly disinterested advice, which the president's plan envisions, might not be easy. If Enron had been paying advisers for its workers, could those advisers have been trusted to give an unbiased assessment of Enron's stock? several senators wondered.