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Showing posts with label Reputations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reputations. Show all posts
Is it the threat of not being re-elected that keeps politicians honest?

Is it the threat of not being re-elected that keeps politicians honest?

A lot of academics treat politicians like they treat firms in that it is the treat of re-election that they say keeps politicians from deviating from their constituents' interests.  But there is a problem with that.  Politicians don't have any chance of living forever, and we often know in advance of their last election when an election will be their last.  The problem is that this threat of non-election can't work if everyone knows at what point the politician won't be running for re-election again.  


From the WSJ.com's Political Diary:

The 78-year old Mr. Hatch is a lock to win reelection in November in this heavily Republican state. He will be the longest serving Republican in the Senate and says he will serve one last term.
Other such cases involve term limits.  As I have argued in my past work, such as my book Freedomnomics, the solution is to rely on a politician's preferences.  If you can put into office a politician who values the same thing as his constituents, you can solve the "last period" problem.  If the politician then deviates from his constituents interests, he will lower his own level of utility.  In my book, I apply this point to a lot of examples such as friendships and Supreme Court appointments.
Should an arrest record show up in criminal background checks?

Should an arrest record show up in criminal background checks?

My guess is that employers don't put as much weight on an arrest as they do a conviction.  On the other hand, employers might not have to be convince as much as a court does before they believe that there is a serious problem.  If someone has been arrested multiple times but not convicted, an employer might still legitimately conclude that there is a serious problem.  In any case, Georgia's Republican lawmakers are moving to expunge criminal records of information on arrests.  From Fox News:


For 13 years, a Georgia woman has lived under the shadow of a child abuse investigation, though police cleared her of any wrongdoing.  The welts and bruises on her daughter's body turned out to be an allergic reaction to antibiotics. But the investigation showed up on criminal background checks, restricting her access to jobs, housing and even her daughter's school.
"I used to have to call ahead and let them know I was coming," said Theresa, who asked to keep her last name unpublished. "I always had to get a clearance if I wanted to participate in certain activities."
Late last year, Theresa was able to remove the investigation from public criminal records with the help of Ashley Deadwyler, an attorney with the Georgia Justice Project, a non-profit advocacy group that provides criminal defense for the indigent.
Lawmakers are now trying to ensure other Georgians don't have to go through the same ordeal, with a piece of legislation that advanced Tuesday in the Capitol.   GJP Executive Director Doug Ammar said many others still face this problem, because Georgia gives district attorneys discretion over whether to allow the restriction of arrest records, even if there's no conviction. . . .
The many forms of criminal punishment

The many forms of criminal punishment

Barry Madoff's actions not only left him in jail, they also resulted in the suicide of his son. People who worked for Madoff even in relatively low leave positions are having real problems finding new jobs.

Even though Madoff's son turned in his father to the SE, the son couldn't get people to believe that he had nothing to do with his father's fraud. From the WSJ on Madoff's son committing suicide.

The ignominy of the Madoff name would come to haunt Mark Madoff in the two years after he and his brother, Andrew, reported their father to authorities on Dec. 10, 2008. Forty-six-year-old Mark Madoff spent that time trying to convince friends and the public that he was innocent of any wrongdoing during the 22 years he worked alongside his father, who was convicted of running a $20 billion Ponzi scheme.

He would make that point, according to a person close to the matter, as he sent a final message to his lawyer: "Nobody wants to believe the truth. Please take care of my family." . . .


Some unrelated people with Madoff's last name have also suffered because of the fraud done by Madoff.

Al Madoff has been living with his name for 82 years, and for most of that time, he said, his family moniker has been a source of pride. But recently, living openly as a Madoff has become much more complicated.

"You can't imagine what I go through with this name," said Madoff, a retired uniform salesman in Delray Beach, Fla. "I try not to mention it too often, really, because I don't want to get these stares or whatever."

Madoff has no relation to the disgraced swindler Bernard Madoff, currently in federal prison in North Carolina for orchestrating one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. But the high-profile case and negative publicity surrounding it haven't made life any easier for Al and others who share the same last name. . . .


Low level employees for Madoff who had no involvement with the fraud also can't find jobs.

In the nearly two years he's been out of work, John Kelly has become an expert coupon clipper, reports CBS News business correspondent Anthony Mason.

"Other people are losing jobs for other reasons," Kelly told CBS News. "Mine is just somewhat unique."

Kelly worked for Bernie Madoff. He wasn't a high-level employee. His salary of $125,000 was modest by Wall Street standards, but for almost 10 years, up on the 19th floor of Madoff's firm, he worked on the trading desk as a liaison to brokerage firms.

"I still have nightmares or dreams that remind me of working there," said Kelly.

Kelly isn't sure what to think when people see the Madoff name on his resume.

"I don't know what people think," said Kelly. "I didn't have that kind of a position." . . .
The cost of counterfeiting goods and company names

The cost of counterfeiting goods and company names

The entire article here is worth reading:

The only authorized Apple reseller in Beijing is Drangonstar. The hundreds of phony Apple “Authorised” stores (could be 100+ locations in Beijing alone) no doubt fool many shoppers. The Macs, iPods and iPhones on display look amazingly real. And I suspect that many are in fact the real McCoy. Yet buyer beware! I learned from some Apple savvy expats in Beijing that you can only tell you’ve got a bandit (Shanzhai ji) when you take your purchase home and discover the erratic (crappy) non-Apple like UI and inability to synch to iTunes.

So many have been burned by these incidences that the miss-trust unjustly spills over to the real Apple Store in Beijing (Sanlitun). I heard anecdotally that one Sanlitun Apple Store shopper insisted that the new iMac he purchased be completely unboxed and booted up before he would leave the store. Sounds crazy as the legit Apple Store at Sanlitun has an impeccable record of integrity and service. But this just goes to show how deep-rooted the mistrust is in China as a result of the Shanzhai ji (counterfeit goods) markets. . . .
"Former NPR editor gets no prison time in child porn case" in some part because he had "thrown away a successful career"

"Former NPR editor gets no prison time in child porn case" in some part because he had "thrown away a successful career"

The story is here. The judge is taking into account the reputational penalties that this criminal already faces. For many criminals, the reputational portion of the penalty is the greatest penalty that they face. It is the total penalty that should count and judges used to do more of this prior to the sentencing guidelines.

"I say, 'What further pound of flesh is needed to achieve the goal of punishment?'" asked Huvelle.
In explaining the exceptional step of sentencing below the guidelines, the judge said Malakoff had already thrown away a successful career and has to live with the stigma of being a sex offender for most of the rest of his life. But the strongest argument for the lesser sentence, Huvelle said, was that Malakoff had been raped as a 9-year-old boy and he had looked at the child pornography over five hours last year to relive his own rape.
Reputations for safety matter

Reputations for safety matter

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