Socialism turns people into cheats...

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Or so Alex Tabarrok reports:
 

From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall divided one nation into two distinct political regimes. We exploited this natural experiment to investigate whether the socio-political context impacts individual honesty. Using an abstract die-rolling task, we found evidence that East Germans who were exposed to socialism cheat more than West Germans who were exposed to capitalism. We also found that cheating was more likely to occur under circumstances of plausible deniability.

Of course here we are not at all surprised. We know that non-market systems protect privilege and promote favour-mongering even in law-abiding and mostly non-socialist Britain.

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From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall divided one nation into two distinct political regimes. We
exploited this natural experiment to investigate whether the socio-political context impacts
individual honesty. Using an abstract die-rolling task, we found evidence that East Germans
who were exposed to socialism cheat more than West Germans who were exposed to
capitalism. We also found that cheating was more likely to occur under circumstances of
plausible deniability. - See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/07/moral-effects-of-socialism.html#sthash.4w1nOOS1.dpuf

Covering up failure - a lesson from the USA

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The lengths to which people will go to cover up institutional failure are frightening - especially in the public sector. Here Atlanta Public Schools (APS) provide a master class:

Teachers and principals erased and corrected mistakes on students’ answer sheets.


Area superintendents silenced whistle-blowers and rewarded subordinates who met academic goals by any means possible.

Superintendent Beverly Hall and her top aides ignored, buried, destroyed or altered complaints about misconduct, claimed ignorance of wrongdoing and accused naysayers of failing to believe in poor children’s ability to learn.

For years — as long as a decade — this was how the Atlanta school district produced gains on state curriculum tests. The scores soared so dramatically they brought national acclaim to Hall and the district, according to an investigative report released Tuesday by Gov. Nathan Deal.

Self-interest will always trump "ethos" and where the wrong incentives are in place we get this sort of result. Don't think a similar situation couldn't take place in England. It is for this reason that we need more choice - not just an "expression of a preference" - in Education.

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