In the former Soviet Union, people would lie to meet their quotas. When you just bring out the word lie, then suddenly the ethical hackles go up. But if you call it our best guess or what they wanted, that's more acceptable. A more common example of this whole thing is when we do officer evaluations and usually officers get raided once a year. And before the rating period starts, you're supposed to sit down with the raided person and say, Okay, let's go over your goals and what we expect of you. Well, that's really hard to do. So thousands of forms get turned in and you have to initial every time you got counseled from the beginning and
Leonard Wong of the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about honesty in the military. Based on a recent co-authored paper, Wong argues that the paperwork and training burden on U.S. military officers requires dishonesty--it is simply impossible to comply with all the requirements. This creates a tension for an institution that prides itself on honesty, trust, and integrity. The conversation closes with suggestions for how the military might reform the compliance and requirement process.