Excellent article!
D.
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Op-Ed Contributor
I'm O.K., You're Biased
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/opinion/16gilbert.html
By DANIEL GILBERT
Published: April 16, 2006
Cambridge, Mass.
VERIZON had a pretty bad year in 2005, but its chief executive did
fine. Although Verizon's earnings dropped by more than 5 percent and
its stock fell by more than a quarter, he received a 48 percent
increase in salary and compensation. This handsome payout was based on
the recommendation of an independent consulting firm that relied on
Verizon (and the chief executive's good will) for much of its
revenue. When asked about this conflict of interest, the consulting
firm explained that it had "strict policies in place to ensure the
independence and objectivity of all our consultants."
Please stop laughing.
The person who made this statement was almost certainly
sincere. Consultants believe they can make objective decisions about
the companies that indirectly employ them, just as legislators believe
that campaign contributions don't influence their votes.
Doctors scoff at the notion that gifts from a pharmaceutical company
could motivate them to prescribe that company's drugs, and Supreme
Court justices are confident that their legal opinions are not
influenced by their financial stake in a defendant's business, or by
their child's employment at a petitioner's firm. Vice President Dick
Cheney is famously contemptuous of those who suggest that his former
company received special consideration for government contracts.
...
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