| People who own businesses or are in business | | | | says embezzlement alone cost the nation over |
| know that ethics are always a sensitive topic. | | | | $27 billion dollars. That was in fact a 12% increase |
| There are standards of business conduct which | | | | from the previous year. Fraud and securities |
| should be taken by anyone in a position of | | | | violations alone cost over 300 billion in 2005, while |
| authority. That standard is taken from The | | | | bank robberies cost a little over a mere 87 million. |
| Business Ethics Forum, a meeting of businessmen | | | | According to the National Fraud Center statistics, |
| and professors held on September 12, 2006, who | | | | in 1970 economic crime cost the nation $5 billion, |
| agreed on basic principles that any corporation | | | | not but a decade later cost $20 billion, and $100 |
| should consider a measure of good ethics. Their | | | | billion in 1990. It was estimated that in 2006 the |
| "Global Business Standards Codex" (GBS Codex) | | | | calculated cost was up to 1.3 trillion. According to |
| suggests the principles such as protection from | | | | the FBI, senior citizens are targeted at a rate of |
| theft, being truthful in disclosures, being respectful | | | | 34% of U.S. residents in fraud schemes so that |
| of people in regards to their health as well as their | | | | those who most need to be protected by good |
| confidentiality, and treating people fairly as defined | | | | business ethics are disproportionately deprived of |
| by following laws and regulations. | | | | it. It's self-evident from this data that there is |
| Despite the aforementioned, there is an increasing | | | | statistical trend for worse business ethics. As you |
| amount of costly white-collar crime. The National | | | | think about this data, though, let's apply the GBS |
| White Collar Crime Organization 2002 report | | | | Codex standards. Clearly, at a minimum, they fail |
| stated that in 1997 the total number of victims | | | | to meet most of these standards. Neither the |
| was roughly 11,700,000, a figure which, in 2001, | | | | property principle nor the fairness principle can be |
| rose to above 15 million. There was a report in | | | | met by the theft of billions, even an |
| 2002 from the National Report to the Nation | | | | all-encompassing figure of trillions of dollars. Not |
| which informed private citizens that cases of | | | | only are the standards of protection and fairness, |
| fraud by themselves had ended up costing over | | | | but dignity is clearly damaged, especially when this |
| $600 billion. Increasingly unnerving is the Internet | | | | type of ethics fraud typically focuses on the basic |
| Crime Report. This report provided evidence that | | | | well being of older citizens. |
| there was a sixty-six percent increase in | | | | It can only bring a sense of deep concern for the |
| complaints about ethics violations between 2004 | | | | state of our business nation with information like |
| and 2005. Another point of concern is that the | | | | this at hand. Clearly, white collar crime has been |
| FBI Uniform Crime Report from the year 2005 | | | | the downfall of our economy, as demonstrated |
| displayed national statistics which clearly | | | | by the past few years' worth of economic |
| demonstrated that fraud and embezzlement | | | | downturn. The question now lies, how are we to |
| crimes rose drastically, far surpasses the growth | | | | fix this mess and take preventative measures? |
| of mere violence and property crimes. The report | | | | |