The Federal Trade Commision (1928) argued that pyramidal groups are frequently
a menace to the investor or the consumer or both. Means (1930) argued that intercorporate
dividend taxes are a measure to “prevent the evasion through affiliates” of the
corporate income tax. Roosevelt (1942) argued that “Such control [pyramiding] does not
offer safety for the investing public. Investment judgment requires the disinterested
appraisal of other people’s management. It becomes blurred and distorted if it is combined
with the conflicting duty of controlling the management it is supposed to judge.”