Those same issues of conflicts of interest are acute in the United States today. Especially because the decision makers in the United States are frequently able to insulate themselves from consequences by living in gated compounds, by drinking bottled water and so on. And within the last couple of years, it's been obvious that the elite in the business world correctly perceive that they can advance their short-term interest by doing things that are good for them but bad for society as a whole, such as draining a few billion dollars out of Enron and other businesses. They are quite correct that these things are good for them in the short term, although bad for society in the long term.
Isti ti sukobi interesa snažni su u SAD-u danas. Posebno zato što su oni koji u SAD-u donose odluke često u mogućnosti izolirati se od posljedica jer žive u dobro zaštićenim kućama i piju vodu iz boce, itd. U posljednih nekoliko godina, očito je da elita poslovnog svijeta ispravno shvaća da može poboljšati svoje kratkoročne interese čineći stvari koje su dobre za njih, ali loše za društvo kao cjelinu, kao što su, na primjer, iscrpili nekoliko milijardi dolara iz Enrona i ostalih tvrtki. Oni su u pravu da su te stvari kratkoročno dobre za njih, iako su dugoročno loše za društvo.