[econjack]

I'm not so sure you're conclusion is right. I checked the IPO data from 1900 to 2006 and there is no denying that current IPO activity is far below the average. True, the late 90's do produce a blip, but the departure from the secular average is undeniable. See:

http://bear.cba.ufl.edu/ritter/FoundingDates.htm

[HamiltonJay]

Go back prior to 1990, the 90s to 2000 were rediculous with the late 90s being absolutely insane. The 90s decade as a whole was a blip historically.

Right now, money is tight, the contraction has occurred, so less money is out there, that’s not purely Sarbane Oxley, that’s also just market contraction. Start-Ups were the rage in the 90s, after the tech bubble collapse, it was a much harder sell and a lot of that money went over to real estate and commodities creating bubbles in both of those areas....

It will eventually swing back to start ups, but for a while its going to hide in “safer” havens as this mess cleans itself out.