Elise S. Brezis - Jewish Law and Ethics: The case of the revolving

Forthcoming

Elise S. Brezis
Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics, 2022 Feb

Cite

APA Click to copy
Brezis, E. S. (2022, February). Jewish Law and Ethics: The case of the revolving door. Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Brezis, Elise S. “Jewish Law and Ethics: The Case of the Revolving Door.” Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics, February 2022.

MLA Click to copy
Brezis, Elise S. Jewish Law and Ethics: The Case of the Revolving Door. Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics, Feb. 2022.

BibTeX Click to copy

@unpublished{brezis2022a,
  title = {Jewish Law and Ethics: The case of the revolving door},
  year = {2022},
  month = feb,
  institution = {Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics},
  author = {Brezis, Elise S.},
  month_numeric = {2}
}

Abstract

This paper is about law, ethics and optimal choice for society. This paper stresses that in contrast to the legal system, where matters of law should be absolutely regulated, and there should be zero tolerance for offenses, in regard to social norms, and ethics, we should not aspire to zero tolerance for offenses.

The main message of this paper is that policies related to ethical matters should not try to adopt absolute solutions. Ethical dilemmas are not solved by choosing extreme solutions. This applies, for instance, to lying and cheating; this paper has shown that it is also the case for the revolving door.

This paper has shown that governments find it optimal to allow the existence of the revolving door and the consequent red tape, and bureaucratic capital. While this is wasteful for society, there is still no need to bring it down to zero, as it enables bureaucrats to be more efficient,

Keywords: corruption, ethics, legal system, revolving door, social norms

Forthcoming: G. Epstein and E.Katz (ed.) Jewish Law and Topics in Economics. 2023 Bar Ilan University Press