tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post5017725261690044487..comments2024-03-29T06:09:09.845-04:00Comments on the daily howler: Scam watch: Duke in the schools!<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-72064866879062588222011-09-27T23:26:08.382-04:002011-09-27T23:26:08.382-04:00Really? Businessmen rarely cook the books?
Such n...Really? Businessmen rarely cook the books?<br /><br />Such naïveté! Didn't we just experience a near global-economic catastrophe precisely BECAUSE businessmen in high finance lied, obtained falsely inflated bond ratings and defrauded mortgage buyers, pensions and mutual funds, and other financial institutions for their own profit? In what way is that not "cooking the books?"<br /><br />Ah, but that old conservative mantra prevails in your statement-- private business is generally honest and accountable, while government institutions are not. Believe me, plenty of public officials face "real punishment" for fudging their reports and plenty of businessmen lie in the faces of their customers, the SEC, the IRS and their own stockholders. To believe otherwise is to be defiantly obtuse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-44184941065243393562011-09-27T10:44:00.889-04:002011-09-27T10:44:00.889-04:00The pressure on bureaucrats and teachers to produc...The pressure on bureaucrats and teachers to produce desired numbers is no greater than the pressure on businessmen to report desired profits. However, businessmen rarely cook their books, because when they get caught, they go to prison. If government employees faced real punishment, then there would be fewer fraudulent statistics.David in Calnoreply@blogger.com