02/29/2024A Cautionary TaleI’ve always been intrigued by the philosophy of whistleblowing. It is an act of conscience and notmotivated by self-interest.A broad view of whistleblowing is the disclosure by organization members (former or current) of illegal,immoral, or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons or organizations thatmay be able to affect action. […]
When Should You Blow the Whistle? Read More »
A Mixed Reaction From Students It is becoming clear that ChatGPT is not a fad and will continue to be used increasingly in colleges and universities. The use of ChatGPT and other AI in education can be met with resistance because its use can walk a fine line between questionable integrity and employing a valuable
Words of Caution for Educators Using ChatGPT Read More »
The Divide Between Older and Younger Americans is Widening From time to time, I come across a survey that leads me to wonder why Americans have different views about morality. Isn’t it a matter of right versus wrong? Doesn’t The Golden Rule explain it best? According to a survey by YouGov, while morality can be described
What Does Morality Mean to You? Read More »
Who Will Defend the U.S. in Case of War? A new poll from Echelon Insights shows the alarming result that 72% of American voters would not be willing to volunteer to fight for their country if the U.S. faced a major conflict. Twenty-one percent said they are willing to volunteer. These results are staggering and raise so
Have Americans Grown Too Soft? Read More »
Are Partnerships Between Sports Betting Companies and Universities a Bridge Too Far? The commercialization of collegiate sports is an outgrowth of the legitimization of gambling in America. It started with off-track betting, spread to state lotteries, then casino gambling, and now we have fantasy sports betting. Collegiate sports have been affected as well through agreements
Commercialization of Collegiate Sports Raises Ethical Questions Read More »
Can a Conflict of Interest Be Avoided? Should members of Congress be prohibited from owning and trading in stocks? This question is receiving a lot of attention on Capitol Hill and in the press. The answer to the question seems to be a no-brainer – Yes! The simple reason is that members of Congress may be
It’s Time to Ban ALL Stock Trades for Members of Congress Read More »
Examining the POGO Report and Other Matters It’s been twenty years since the Public Company Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). This is a good time to evaluate the mandate given to the board, its work during that period, and whether it protects the public interest. One way to
Is the PCAOB Protecting the Public Interest? Read More »
Smash-and-Grab Threatening Peacefulness in Society I’ve been out of touch for a while because of unexpected surgery. I’m on the mend and glad to be blogging again about compelling ethics issues, none of which is more important than the rising crime in big cities like San Francisco that have created a challenge to civil behavior
Civility is Under Attack Read More »
The Case of GE and KPMG A new rule adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires disclosure of the tenure of a public company’s external auditor in the annual report. KPMG recently reported that it has audited GE since 1909. This raises the question of whether there should be mandatory audit firm rotation
Should Auditors Rotate Every 109 Years? Read More »