The ethics of business

While listening to The Diane Rehm Show on NPR the other morning I heard something that got me thinking about business, ethics, the recession and how our economy got to the point that it has.

Rehm was interviewing former Disney Exec Michael Eisner, who is rumored to be taking the reins of the Tribune Co. after it exits bankruptcy protection, but what he had to say about business ethics really piqued my interest.

Basically he said maybe the economy wouldn't be so shredded if this generation of businessmen were better, more ethical people.

Check it:

"We always teach our children when they're, like, in Kindergarten share, share. Don't throw that toy at your brother, don't throw up on your sister, be nice to your -- all your friends.

And then they get to be about fifth or sixth grade and now what are we telling them?

You know, succeed on your own, get the high SAT score, take that football alone across the goal line. And I think it's the wrong message.

If the message were the continuing message from Kindergarten right through high school and college and business school, you tend to work with somebody and you tend to be a governor on them, let's say. You tend to do the right thing, you tend to be more ethical, you tend to be a check in balance.

And I do believe that the present loss of integrity that we have seen in business and everywhere over the last 10 or 20 years would be less so if people were more inclined to be partners."

Then I read this Salon piece about how Goldman Sachs execs were allegedly doing business deals in strip clubs and hiring escorts for office parties.

It just seemed to put everything in perspective.

I wondered: is it possible to put a literal price tag on being a bad person?

I wondered if someone could through the financial records of a given company and say, "Ok, here's where integrity went by the wayside and these are the economic repercussions of that loss of ethics."

Then I laughed because the whole concept of having to justify good behavior with economic incentive is pretty absurd.

Then I went and played XBox.