This week's featured "mover and shaker" in this recurring feature of the column — James Hill, managing editor of the Washington Post Writers Group, a newspaper syndicate that provides opinion — columns, features, political cartoons and comic strips — much of it from The Washington Post — to publications throughout the world.
Bruce: Do people take ethical behavior less seriously than they used to? On what are you basing your response? If your answer is "yes," what should be done to improve matters?
Jim: I'm not sure that is the case. What I think we're seeing, particularly in light of the corporate scandals of the past few years and the ongoing Abramoff/lobbying scandal on Capitol Hill, is that certain people are willing to push the boundaries of poor ethical behavior ever further, perhaps because their incredible arrogance has convinced them they will never get caught. But Sarbanes-Oxley has had a tremendous effect on corporations and how seriously they take their ethical behavior, and stiff prison sentences should concentrate the minds of officeholders and make them realize there is a high price for betraying the public trust.
See full Interview.
Posts
