Fiduciary Lessons from the Iowa Caucuses

Knut A. RostadAdvisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.

The world watched Iowa Republicans – the party of Lincoln – give a big boost to Donald Trump Monday night, January 15.

The Iowa campaign and media coverage illustrated how politics and fiduciary principles converge. Threats to the foundation of our democratic republic and fiduciary principles are one and the same. In both, it’s a matter of trust and the culture’s tolerance for dishonesty.

Law professor Tamar Frankel says it best in her 2006 book, Trust and Honesty. She wrote,

Something different from the past and more basic has been happening to America. America is becoming used to abuse of trust and deception. It is that American culture has been moving toward dishonesty, regardless of whether fraud has been actually rising.… Culture reflects the habits of society; at its base is a set of assumptions that we take for granted about how people behave.…[In my research] I found evidence of a move toward greater acceptance of Dishonesty… ” (page 3)