The High Cost of Immorality

So, I've been thinking lately about the cost of living in the U.S. today - particularly about how we have so many drags on our economy both directly from immoral and irresponsible behavior (of both corporations and individuals) and from the high cost of the resultant government oversight.

 

For instance, I was recently discussing with a contractor friend of mine the invasive nature of litigation in the construction field. He related to me that for every project he begins, government regulations require him to procure insurance to ensure that his subcontractors get paid if he fails to pay them. (Apparently this is a BIG issue in contracting; subcontractors are often fighting with general contractors over how much they were supposed to get paid and whether they actually got paid). This insurance costs $3,500.00 a job. After about 4 years of acting as a general contractor, my friend has never needed this insurance because he is always honest, upfront, fair, and well managed. Despite this fact, he has still spent a few tens of thousands of dollars on insurance that he has never needed, but the government still requires.

 

Of course, that may not be the best example because other factors besides general contractor unscrupulousness may play into the government's decision to require such insurance, but I think it at least illustrates the point.

 

Anyway, this conversation got me to thinking about the high economic cost of immorality in America today, and I'm curious. If you have any suggestions or ideas of specific ways in which immorality has or is costing us money here in America, please post those ideas here. I'm taking a collection, so to speak...