The appearance of impropriety
Subtitle: how ethics wars have undermined American government, business, and society
By: Peter W. Morgan, Glenn H. Reynolds
Contributors: Reynolds, Glenn H
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 272
Subjects: Political ethics -- United States; Business ethics -- United States; United States -- Moral conditions
Description: For two decades, Americans have engaged in a vast campaign to clean up our ethical act in politics, in the workplace, and in local communities. We have crafted a mountain of regulations, created vast networks of committees and consultants, and become accustomed to speaking of such taboos as "conflicts of interest" and "the appearance of impropriety." Perhaps one statistic says it best: Corporations currently spend over $1 billion per year on ethics consultants.

Yet at the same time, our confidence that politicians and businesspeople will "do the right thing" has dropped to an all-time low. Our ethics efforts have failed. As Peter Morgan and Glenn Reynolds entertainingly and devastatingly describe, we have made legitimate ethical concerns into absurd standards, and wielded our moral whims like dangerous weapons.

The Appearance of Impropriety offers a bracing antidote for executives, group leaders, and anyone in public life: A reminder of some basic rules of good conduct that must be taken back from the pundits and bureaucrats that surround us.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-258) and index