Max H. Bazerman and Ann
E. Tenbrunsel, the authors of the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's
Right
and
What to Do about It</a> (Princeton University
Press), present several ways of dealing with the many problems they
raise in their book.<br>
<br>

An interesting question arises from <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/10/v-fullstory/2159921/robaina-at-ce…; target="”_blank”">a
big
investigative article in yesterday's Miami <i>Herald</i></a>:  is it
unethical for a mayor and his wife to be part of a shadow banking
network in their city?<br>
<br>

It's not every day that there is an all-day conference on local
government ethics. It's not even every year. So I'm happy to be
able to share with you the fact that, this week, there will be such a conference in
Miami, convened by the Center for Ethics at St. Thomas University (a
center about which there appears to be no information online), in
conjunction with the St. Thomas University School of Law, the
Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics & Public Trust, and the

I've noted on several occasions that indirect conflicts are among the
most problematic areas in government ethics. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's
Right
and
What to Do about It</a>, a new book by
Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel (Princeton University Press),

The denial of unethical behavior, which usually occurs long after the
behavior itself, is usually the worst part of an ethics scandal, the adding of insult to injury. The public is faced with two possibilities when an official
denies that he did something unethical. This dilemma is well described
in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to

<b>Model Ethics Code Promotion As Community Service</b><br>
I promise you that I did not write the City Ethics Model Code in order
to shorten my prison sentence. According to <a href="http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Need-for-ethics-code-remains-1325…; target="”_blank”">an
article
in
yesterday's Connecticut <i>Post</i></a>, that is effectively what a

Government ethics involves itself primarily with the formal norms set
forth in ethics codes. But as the authors of the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's
Right
and
What to Do about It</a> (Princeton University
Press), point out, "It is through informal mechanisms that

This week, according to an article in the Cleveland <i>Plain Dealer</i>,
Cuyahoga County (which includes Cleveland) passed a new ethics code,
largely based on <a href="http://charter.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_transitioninfo/en-US/COERecommenda…; target="”_blank”">the
recommended code</a>
drafted in October by the Code of Ethics Workgroup, set up by the Cuyahoga County Transition Advisory Group Executive

Max H. Bazerman and Ann
E. Tenbrunsel, the authors of the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's
Right and What to Do about It</a> (Princeton University
Press), point out that egocentrism is in our nature. We naturally see

"Most of us dramatically
underestimate the degree to which our behavior is affected by
incentives and other situational factors." This is one of the most
important sentences in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507&quot; target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's Right and What to Do about It</a>, a new book by