Should Corporations Be Encouraged to Influence the Political Process? It's well known that corporations donate to politicians of their choice. This has been going on for many years. What's not so clear is whether the concept of "woke capitalism" is ratcheting up the support in a more tangible way that... Read more →

A Cult of Personality Blinded Others to Their Schemes Today's blog is long but comprehensively addresses two of the most interesting cases of how not to run a business. For educators, it could be the makings of a case study to use in the classroom. I recently watched a streaming... Read more →

Excellence in Accounting Ethics Education Award Announced by the Public Interest Section of the American Accounting Association The intent of this award is to recognize new pedagogy for teaching ethics to accounting students. A monetary award of $1,000 and a plaque will be presented at the annual Ethics Symposium, sponsored... Read more →

Rules of the Road I first posted this piece on my "Workplace Ethics Advice" blog and received so many comments and inquiries that I decided to post on my "Ethics Sage" blog as well. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects us from the government interfering with our speech... Read more →

Should You Buy With Your Heart, Not With Your Wallet? Perhaps you have heard about “Ethical Consumerism”. It has various elements to it but, generally, is the practice of spending money in a way that aligns with your values. That’s the angle I like to address because it makes making... Read more →

Professional Obligations of Accountants to Clients You may have heard that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization’s accountant, Mazars USA, split up after Mazars sent a letter dated February 9, 2022 to the Trump Organization. The letter was included in a court filing and said that “the Statements of Financial... Read more →

Disconnect Between Democrats and Republicans Moral Values are inter-linked with ethical standards and establish a framework for right behavior in society. Morality in the U.S. is on the decline, which is the topic of today's blog. Is there a disconnect between the Democrats and Republicans with respect to how they... Read more →

A Cautionary Tale for Silicon Valley Fake it until you make it is an expression that amply describes what happened to Theranos. It also characterizes the actions of the company’s founder and CEO, Elizabeth Holmes. The idea being that by imitating confidence, competence, and an optimistic mindset, Holmes was able... Read more →

The Good, the Bad, and the Worse It seems Facebook finally figured out what many of us already know, which is that Instagram could be toxic to children and, in the extreme, motivate them to commit suicide. The potential effect on a child’s wellbeing is alarming. In this blog, I... Read more →

The Role of Civility in Passing the Legislation Progressive Democrats in the House have refused to vote on the infrastructure bills that have public support to obtain leverage in negotiations over a separate bill that contains huge spending on issues including increased access to childcare, help with college tuition and... Read more →