Cliquez ici for a nice article on groupthink. Michael Lowery, anecdotally, shows how Charlotte leaders were hosed into falling for a stupendous cornucopia of ever-flowing wealth when they swallowed the pitch of a private corporation seeking public investment. Adam Levine-Weinberg recently posted a cool article on the same frailty in the private sector. Defineth he:
Groupthink causes members of the group to seek consensus rather than critically evaluating all of the available facts. Evidence that leaders’ preferred courses of action are not working (or are not likely to work) gets suppressed, either through self-censorship or due to pressure from other members of the group. Flaws in the group’s decisions go unrecognized until they are so obvious that it is too late.
The difference, of course, is private investors can bail. Taxpayers have no say until the next election, and they get stuck with the bill anyway.
