… This week, I stopped by St. Andrews Plaza in Lower Manhattan to see Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his deputy, Richard Zabel, the former head of the criminal division. Both said they couldn’t discuss any pending cases. But many people who work in financial markets “are highly skilled at cost-benefit analysis,” Mr. Bharara told me. “They’re highly intelligent. They’ve been to the best schools. They weigh the risk of getting caught against the potential reward, and they decide it’s worth the risk. We’re trying to tilt that equation.”
… For the most part, inside traders aren’t hardened criminals but rational decision-makers. When confronted by an F.B.I. agent in his front yard, [Mathew] Martoma fainted.
So what we’ve created with our best schools is a class of sensitive, rational, ethically keen criminals who do not think of themselves as criminals. They faint when they see the FBI coming.
I suppose it’s a sort of cultural accomplishment. Me, I prefer the old school.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:56PM
Top of the world Ma! Speaking of old world, I am thinking that at these top business schools, they should teach the oldest lesson of all about crime (since they seem to do such a good job raising criminals): if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. Simple, no?