[beefking (Nathan)]

try to track down "The Economics of Innocent Fraud" by J.K. Galbraith. It's very short, but extremely readable, and a brilliant explanation of how perverse outcomes like that actually occur.

He makes the point that we do not have a capitalist economy - that would imply the provider of the capital bears the risk and reaps the benefits. Bailouts and excessive CEO remuneration, for example, do not bear that out. We actually have a managerialist economy, where those who manage the capital get to structure the system to their benefit. Seems evident once its pointed out.

As for the "soullessnes" of such people, Galbraith makes the good point that the corporate structure allows people to, I guess, compartmentalise their ethical decisions into a personal and a business sphere - it's one of the reasons for the success of the "corporation". The success of the corporation demands that such "frauds" take place.

To that end, I also recommend the books "The Corporation" and "No Logo".

it's all sadly short of solutions though. I daydream that if I ever start a company it will have an ethical structure, but that's just a daydream innit.