Discuss briefly the state of business ethics in recent times, including 2012, the "summer of shame."

What will be an ideal response?

• Bernie Madoff's investment advisory firm bilked investors out of $7.3 billion.
• Irving H. Picard received permission to claw back profits from those Madoff rewarded in his Ponzi scheme.
• R. Allan Stafford swindled 30,000 investors from 113 countries over two decades.
• Rajat Gupta, former McKinsey CEO, fed insider information to convicted hedge fund felon Raj Rajaratnam.
• Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers went out of business.
• Committing fraud and being greedy were among their major transgressions.