Framing Decisions: Decision-Making that Accounts for Irrationality, People and Constraints

5

The Moral Dimension

Although it is seldom discussed in decision-making books, articles, or courses, decision making has a strong moral dimension to it. You could convincingly argue that the 2008–2009 global economic implosion was a disaster rooted in morally flawed decision making.

Here is some of what went on. Mortgage lending institutions ignored their fiduciary responsibility by offering home loans to unqualified buyers. Securities rating institutions such as Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s were remiss by rating subprime loan securities as AAA securities when they were clearly high-risk assets. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which provided government-authorized mortgages, thought nothing of packaging and selling securities comprising subprime ...