Perhaps the better conclusion of the NYT article should have been that these markets no longer carry the economic significance they once did?
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/5/500-shareholder-thresho...
I witnessed first-hand a situation where executives engaged in outright fraud in an effort to kick the can far enough so that the VCs and execs could cash out. The aftermath of that fraud was two scapegoats who were sentenced to 18 months each and had to pay fines of less than 10% of the profit they made from their crime. If you're an individual who invested in the company and lost all your money, then fine...I can see the personal responsibility angle. But most of the losses were mutual funds and pensions where the losses were felt by people who had no hand in choosing that investment. Instead, that was financial professionals and the perverse incentives they're given that push them to seek outsized returns.
There's a very good possibility that we're in an over-regulated state at the moment, but it's important to remember that in the complete absence of regulation, the public gets fleeced. The focus should be on finding the right regulation rather than vilifying the general concept of regulation.