Goldman Sachs: Ethics for Sale

At the end of their 4-page Code of Business Conduct and Ethics Goldman Sachs declares that they reserve the right to “waive” certain provisions contained in the document. Well that certainly makes for an easy conscience, doesn’t it? American Public Media’s Kai Ryssdal interviews Greg Unruh, director of the Lincoln Center for Ethics who argues that at the end of the day “companies don’t like to miss out on profits, so the safety valve is allowing them to sacrifice their ethics if the price is right.” Why bother creating a document setting forth moral obligations when one reserves the right to waive them all along?