Interviews with David Callahan

A. When the corporate scandals exploded in 2001, I was a finishing a book on a group business leaders who graduated from the Harvard Business School in 1949. These guys shook their heads in disgust at the likes of Enron and WorldCom, and said their generation simply lived by a different set of values than many of today’s leaders. Was that true, I wondered? Around the same time, I noticed a raft of scandals outside the business world: top historians under fire for plagiarism, college sports teams under investigation, Ivy Leaguers busted for cheating on the GRE, the IRS reporting an epidemic of tax evasion. In writing this book, I set out to connect the dots, to dig into changes in our values and the economy, and see what was driving so much cheating.

Q. What do you mean by "cheating?"

A. I look at otherwise law-abiding people who break the rules to get ahead financially or in their careers. A lot of these same people would never think of stealing a candy bar from a store. My book doesn’t deal with infidelity in relationships or corruption by public officials. Those topics have gotten lots of attention elsewhere and, anyway, the evidence suggests that it’s only cheating for private gain where things have gotten worse.

Q. What are some examples of cheating?

A. Just pick up any newspaper. A major steroid scandal recently hit baseball and has caught up sluggers like Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi. Big mutual funds are under fire for unfair practices that hurt ordinary investors. Subpoenas are flying as the record industry goes after music pirates. The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is fighting government charges that one of its subsidiaries bribed doctors to prescribe the drug Neurontin. Jayson Blair is only latest reporter to have been caught making stuff up. Students are cheating like crazy, even at places like Yale. The list goes on and on.

Q. Sure, but are Americans really cheating MORE?

A. I don’t want to overplay the bad news. Things are less corrupt now than they used to be in various ways. Organized crime doesn’t have its fingers in so many places, for example. At the same time, there is much evidence of more cheating in a number of areas compared to thirty years ago, especially by young people, well-educated professionals, and the wealthy. This trend hasn’t gotten much attention, in part because the “values” debate in America has largely been framed by conservatives who’ve focused on things like teenage pregnancy, divorce, drugs, and homosexuality. I say let’s give the culture war a break and talk about a more troubling shift in American values: the ways that more of us seem to be willing to do anything to get ahead.

Q. Why are people cheating so much?

A. To start with, we live in a winner-take-all society. Winners get paid more these days, so people will do whatever it takes to be a winner. Meanwhile, everyone is under more pressure to perform well starting from a young age, in school, and extending into the workplace so that they are not left behind by the economy. That kind of stress provides a lot of incentive to cut corners. And I look at two other reasons for cheating: government watchdogs haven't been given enough resources to enforce the law, and many Americans are cynical that the rules in our society are fair, so they feel it's justified to cheat. As I see it, all of these reasons are related to the overarching trend in American society toward more free market competition. We’ve become a society divided between a Winning Class that is richer than ever and often cheats because it can get away with it. And an Anxious Class that cheats to move up in the world – or just stay afloat.

Q. How does the winner-take-all dynamic play out?

A. Take baseball. Sluggers get bigger paychecks than ever, over $15 million a year in some cases. Guys on the bench get $300,000 a year. Players who take steroids can more easily build the muscles it takes to hit more home runs, and have a chance at getting seriously rich. Not surprisingly, steroid use has become rampant in baseball over the past decade. In journalism and book publishing, the stars now make a fortune while average writers find it even harder to get by. That trend may help explain plagiarists like Jayson Blair and Stephen Ambrose.

Q. All of us probably saw note-passing in class when we were students. What's changed? Is the cheating in schools really different now?

A. Many kids today think their life will be over if they don't get into a good college, or a good grad school after college. And the truth is that credentials matter more than ever these days, since many of the best employers only recruit from the top colleges. So you have more kids cheating on tests and term papers to get the grades they need to get ahead. Even students who'd like to be honest often end up cheating because everyone else seems to be doing it and they need to keep up with the cheaters. What you get in this situation is a culture of cheating that self-perpetuates.

Q. You say that professionals are cheating more. Why?

A. The rat race has become a lot tougher in fields like law, medicine, and accounting – and, in fact, everywhere in our economy. In law, the number of hours that lawyers at big firms are supposed to bill has soared since the '70s and it's also harder to make partner or hold onto a partner position. That tempts lawyers to pad their hours. In medicine, doctors' incomes are shrinking as more of them go to work for HMOs. That creates temptations to make extra cash in unethical ways.

Q. Why aren't cheaters punished more often?

A. The biggest problem is that government has been weakened over the past two decades. The IRS and SEC, for example, don't have the resources to crack down on tax cheats or effectively police corporate America. But professional associations also do a poor job of policing their members. Again and again, dishonest lawyers, doctors, stockbrokers and other professionals are not disciplined by professional watchdog groups. Too often, these groups protect their members not the public. At a larger culture level, Americans love a winner and admire the wealthy. It’s easy for rogues with a big bank account to buy themselves respect. Witness the rehabilitation of Michael Milken in recent years.

Q. What can be done about cheating?

A. Different forms of cheating have different solutions. I emphasize a few big points. First, we need to strengthen the government agencies that enforce the rules of fair play, starting with the IRS and the SEC. Washington patted itself on the back after passing corporate reform legislation in 2002, but the watchdogs still don’t have the muscle they need to get the job done: witness the SEC failing to detect all the problems at mutual funds. Second, businesses, professional groups, and sporting leagues must get more serious about instilling ethics and must police their own ranks more effectively. For example, the NFL should have suspended the four Oakland Raiders who recently tested positive for steroids. Third, schools and universities must have stronger honor codes and make a new commitment to teaching integrity and building character. That stuff works and there’s research to prove it.

Q. Anything else that needs to be done?

A. Yes. We need broad measures to reverse America's drift toward a nation where the rich are given special privileges and middle class Americans see the system as stacked against them. We need to create a new social contract in America that fosters a sense of social trust and economic fairness across U.S. society. Things like fairer taxes, national health insurance, and fewer inequities in the criminal justice system can all make a big difference.