Search Results for “harm”

The many harms from conflicts of interest

A new post in the FCPA Blog. I hope you find it  useful.

The harm from conflicts you often can’t see

A few days ago Newsweek ran a piece on the Trump family’s “endless conflicts of interest,” describing in detail several dozen actual, apparent and potential conflicts, and related ethical infirmities. Another such list is maintained and periodically updated by The Atlantic. The sheer volume of these cases is so overwhelming […]

Is corruption a harmless foul?

In a book review published last weekend in the Wall Street Journal titled “Two Cheers for Corruption,”  the prolific scholar Deidre McCloskey argues that while corruption can be harmful to some societies (such as Afghanistan, the subject of one of the books she reviews), “The Great Enrichment that America rode […]

Massive but (mostly) harmless conflicts of interest

The conflicts of interest will be enormous when  the recently announced merger between Publicis and Omnicom – each a giant ad agency (or collection of agencies) in its own right – is finalized.  Both companies, through their respective subsidiaries,  represent major players in such industries as automotive,   telecommunications,  food,  beverages, and beer […]

A pharma cure for moral hazard?

“Moral hazard” – one of the three  principal areas of focus of this blog  – refers to a situation in which there is a disconnect between, on the one hand, those with the capacity and motivation to engage in risky behavior and, on the other, those who will bear the likely […]

Conflicts of interest: getting it wrong

In the nearly ten years that I have published this blog I have noted various studies and other sources of insight into the issue of whether individuals and organizations truly understand the negative impact flowing from disclosed COIs. See posts collected here.  (The latest contribution to this area is Bias […]

Combining COI program and risk assessments

COI risk assessments and program assessments are two different things. But they can overlap to some degree and so it makes sense to consider how/how much they should fit under “one roof.” This is particularly so when both procedures are based principally on employee interviews, with some danger of duplication. […]

The $5800 bottle of booze

According to recent media accounts “The State Department is looking into the whereabouts of a $5,800 bottle of Japanese whiskey that was gifted to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to State Department filings in the federal register. The government of Japan gifted the whiskey to Pompeo in 2019, […]

Training managers in conflicts of interest

While  COI risks can exist at any level of an organization, as a general matter the risks increase (often sharply) as one proceeds up the org chart.  Most obviously, this is because a) senior managers tend to have greater opportunities for COI-fraught relationships and activities than do other employees; and […]

A 30-year experiment in ethics and compliance

In his 2008 book Experiments in Ethics, Anthony Appiah made a strong and important case that behavioral science ideas and information should be used to address ethical challenges. But for me the most compelling ethics-related experiment of modern times comes from the realm of political – rather than behavioral – science: […]