Human beings basically try to do two things at the same time; on the one hand we want to be able to look in the mirror and feel good about ourselves - ego motivation from honesty, and on the other hand we want to benefit from dishonesty. It would seem at first glance that we could only do one (honesty or dishonesty) but thanks to our 'flexible cognitive psychology' and our ability to 'rationalize our actions', we can in fact do both. Nowhere is this more clearly equivocated than in Bernanke's entirely disingenuous commentary and justification for QEternity last week. He is of course rationalizing his actions (via empirical studies or Woodford's paper), knowing full well the implications, but remaining an 'honest and wonderful' asset to society in his own mind. This outstanding clip from Dan Ariely on The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty will provide much food for thought about whether you are more honest than Bernanke, Draghi, or Juncker and at the same time what motivates their self-effacing dishonesty.
Honest or Dishonest...
[2]
Honest AND Dishonest - thru rationalization...
[3]
The enture clip is well worth watching as the last 2-3 minutes bring his thoughts very much back in line with the 'emperor's new clothes' dilemma we face and the driver behind mortgage fraud and bank regulation...
[4]