Noble Lies: Self-Deception in Government
Assistant Professor Cameron Harwick, from the Department of Accounting, Economics, and Finance, explores the role of self-deception in governance in the Journal of Contextual Economics.
Cameron Harwick, from the Department of Accounting, Economics, and Finance, published “Inside and Outside Perspectives on Institutions: An Economic Theory of the Noble Lie” in the Journal of Contextual Economics on the role of self-deception in human governance.
The paper explores the theoretical and practical implications of the fact that it’s never possible to motivate everyone in large groups to cooperate purely on the basis of self-interest, for example, the necessity of discretion in enforcing laws, the impossibility of purely algorithmic governance, the functional role of sacredness, and the responsible conduct of social science.