How neoliberalism’s moral order feeds fraud and corruption
The automobile industry is only one of many sectors, including banking and the arms industry, where scandals have become commonplace.
In a recent article on The Conversation, Jörg Wiegratz and David Whyte argue that corporate fraud is not just present, but is widespread in many neoliberalised economies of both income-rich and income-poor countries. They highlight Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal as perhaps the most recent and most startling example, but say that the automobile industry is only one of many sectors, including banking and the arms industry, where scandals have become commonplace. Certain practices and norms that many people in the global North considered shocking only a while ago have become routine in public life.
David Whyte and Jörg Wiegratz are editors of Neoliberalism and the Moral Economy of Fraud, published by Routledge this month. POLIS and LUCAS provided financial support to the international workshop in Leeds which led to the production of this book.
