CHAPTER 3

Ethics

In his recent book, The Economist’s Oath (Oxford University Press, 2011), economist and renowned ethicist Dr. George DeMartino described ethics in some of the same terms we normally reserve for fiduciary: loyalty and prudence. So, is there a difference? Can that difference be described as “one is legal and the other moral?” Moral is hard to put your finger on, as it develops in each of us differently from teachings and experiences at home, or in the church or synagogue, and from life. Everyone seems to know or have some understanding of ethics, and most see it as right vs. wrong. So is writing a code of ethics an attempt to convert from the moral to the legal, and thereby control ethical questions?

For a board of individuals ...

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