There is little factual or logical basis for the conviction that honesty is the best policy. Economists and game theorists say that trust is enforced in the marketplace through retaliation and reputation. Nonetheless, the evidence that treachery can pay seems compelling. Power can be an effective substitute for trust. In addition, people often respond to dishonesty with cognitive inertia - the tendency to search for data that confirm one's beliefs and to avoid facts that might refute them.
Most people respond to circumstances.
As a result, their integrity and trustworthiness can depend as much on how they are treated as on their basic character. Most businesspeople do try to keep their own word most of the time. One reason treachery does not pervade the business world is that people rationalize constancy by exaggerating its economic value. The fundamental basis of trust, however, is simply moral. People keep promises because they believe it is right to do so, not because it is good business.