Morgan Stanley’s Mack: ‘We Cannot Control Ourselves’

I'll just put Mr. Mack's picture over there on the right for a while until I understand him a little better.  You might want to read Sorkin's "Dealbook" at the Times this morning.  Seems Mr. Mack has more to say about regulators and the ability of a firm like Morgan Stanley to "police itself".

I am wondering what this has to say about the human condition.  The illustration bouncing around in my head is of a mother of a diabetic child.  The kid loves candy and she knows it isn't good for him but gives it to him anyway so the kid will feel less deprived. The kid can't help himself and the mom, who is in charge of the kid, sees the short term solution but neglects the long term consequences.

Where do people learn not to abide by common sense and self restraint?  Mack seems to be highly intelligent and by a measure of profits, extremely capable.  Does he, however, ever wake up in the morning and say "no, we shouldn't do that..it would be wrong".

I watched Cramer once on TV when asked the same moral question regarding the duty to society and the duty to the shareholders.  He laughed as if there was no question there worth considering. Suppose I have a lot to learn about the corporate world and the greater good.  Still, I wonder where people learn that stuff.