Category Archives: Ethics

Bargaining and Betrayal in Breaking Bad

Posted on February 2, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Last fall, we posted the abstract to our work-in-progress titled “Breaking Bad and the Natural Law Tradition.” Originally, we were going to write about the conflict between meth kingpin Walter White (alias Heisenberg) and DEA agent Hank Schrader from a … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Ethics, Game Theory, Games, Law | 1 Comment

The facemash fiasco (Lessons 1 & 2)

Posted on January 25, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Because our large business law class meets only once per week (on Mondays), we are going to combine Lessons 1 & 2 into a single lecture. In addition, we are going to re-enact Mark Zuckerberg’s fall 2003 “Ad Board” hearing … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Law, Probability, Voting | Leave a comment

Is Judge Judy a fraud?

Posted on January 21, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

She is the highest paid “judge” in the world. In reality, she’s a private arbitrator who pretends to be a real judge on her famous court TV show, but that is not why she might be a fraud, at least … Continue reading →

Posted in Deception, Ethics, Law | 5 Comments

Lesson 0 (law & ethics)

Posted on January 15, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

This semester, we are teaching a large undergraduate course (as well as an honors section) on “the legal and ethical environment of business.” Specifically, we are using the founding of Facebook–as depicted in the book “The Accidental Billionaires” and in … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Law | 5 Comments

Why do politicians lie so much?

Posted on January 3, 2016 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

 Is there an “optimal level” of truth telling in politics?

Posted in Cheating, Deception, Ethics, Politics | Leave a comment

“Facebook Ethics” (A/B testing edition)

Posted on October 6, 2015 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Thus far this semester, we have been reading about the historic events that occurred in Harvard College in late 2003-early 2004 and in Silicon Valley during the summer 2004 leading up to the launching and subsequent explosive growth of Facebook (or “thefacebook,” as … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Law, Web/Tech | Leave a comment

“Yes, the song was taught to us …”

Posted on March 13, 2015 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Are we born racists, or do we learn racism from others? In his letter of apology to his fellow students at the University of Oklahoma, Parker Rice–one of the students expelled from OU for singing this racist and despicable song–confesses that “the song was … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, Ethics, History | Tagged | 1 Comment

South Beach Story

Posted on March 1, 2015 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

My wife and I were in Miami Beach last night. We enjoyed a late dinner at Prime 112 on Ocean Drive, and then went to Dream nightclub on Washington Street. We had fun, but I did not like the DJ … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Ethics, Questions Rarely Asked | Tagged | 2 Comments

A 21-word solution for reducing verification bias in the social sciences?

Posted on January 28, 2015 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Is social science (especially fields rife with fraud like social psychology) completely worthless? How should we solve the massive problem of verification bias in social science research and in related fields like law, economics, etc.? Via Deborah Mayo, check out … Continue reading →

Posted in Deception, Economics, Ethics, Law, Science | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Spring 2015 Business Law reading list (honors section)

Posted on January 17, 2015 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Readings. Our textbook is Richard A Epstein’s Simple Rules for a Complex World. In addition, we will read several classic legal essays this semester, including our all-time favorites “The Path of the Law” by Oliver Wendell Holmes and Federalist Paper #10 (on factions). Law … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Ethics, Law | Tagged , | Leave a comment