The TSC Streetside Chat: Accounting Historian William Samson

It's safe to say that the accounting industry is going through a rough patch these days. But it couldn't hurt to get a professional opinion on the subject.

That's why we turn this week to William D. Samson, professor of accounting at the University of Alabama's Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration and Culverhouse School of Accountancy.

A certified public accountant himself, Samson is president of the Academy of Accounting Historians. So we asked him for some perspective on where Enron, WorldCom and Xerox -- not to mention the companies that have audited them -- fit into accounting history.

TheStreet.com: How do Americans feel about accountants, and how has that changed over the years? ...