As usual, Dan Ariely (one of my favorite behavioral economists) has a great take on an important topic. When companies or individuals disclose their conflicts of interest, it actually makes the situation worse!!! For some very interesting reasons too.
The most interesting to me are:
1. When people disclose their conflicts, their behavior gets more conflicted because they feel it is more acceptable because of the disclosure.
2. The public has less suspicion of the conflict because the person must be honest if they are disclosing.
So in sum, the situation gets worse!!!!
