question_answer

Direction: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Economists, ethicists and business sages persuade us that honesty is the best policy, but their evidence is weak. We hoped to find data that would support their theories and thus, perhaps encourage higher standard of business behaviour. To our surprise, our pet theories failed to stand up. Treachery, we found, can pay. There is no compelling economic reason to tell the truth or keep one's word. For, punishment for the treacherous in the real world is neither swift nor sure.

Honesty is, in fact, primarily a moral choice. Business people do tell themselves that, in the long run, they will do well by doing good. But there is little factual or logical basis for this conviction. Without values, without a basic preference for right over wrong, trust based on such self-delusion would crumble in the face of temptation. Most of us choose virtue because we want to believe in ourselves and have others' respect and belief in us.

And for this, we should be happy. We can be proud of a system in which people are honest because they want to be, not because they have to be. Materially, too, trust based on morality provides great advantages. It allows us to join in great and exciting enterprises that we could never undertake if we relied on economic incentives alone.

Economists tell us that trust is enforced in the market place through retaliation of reputation. If you violate a trust your victim is apt to seek revenge and others are likely to stop doing business with you, at least under favourable terms. A man or woman with a reputation for fair dealing will prosper. Therefore, profit maximizers are honest. This sounds plausible enough until you look for concrete examples. Cases that apparently demonstrate the awful consequences of trust turns out to be few and weak, while evidence that treachery can pay seems compelling.

Why does the author say that one can be proud of the present situation?

A) Because people are respect seekers.

B) Because people are honest without compulsion.

C) Because people are unselfish.

D) Because people are self-respecting.

E) None of these