In Fraud We Trust: How Leaders in Politics, Business, and Media Profit from Lies―and How to Stop Them

Summary

Telling lies, and falling for them, is one of the things that makes us human. But when someone deceives another for material gain or profit, inflicting injury in the process, we give this kind of lie a special label: fraud.

Most people are familiar with the concept and understand that fraud is prohibited by law. What many fail to appreciate, however, is that the law does not treat all frauds equally. In a perverse sense, the bigger the fraud, the more likely it is protected by the First Amendment and therefore legal.

Examples of fraud on the public are everywhere. Politicians on both sides of the aisle lie with such regularity that people have become deeply cynical about whether to believe anything they say. Henricksen shows that large-scale fraud is carried out for many reasons beyond financial profit, including political gain, the prevention of justice, and the falsification of history.

In addition to exposing the depths of the problem, Henricksen gives listeners a way forward. By revealing for the first time the root legal cause of the misinformation crisis and presenting novel solutions, In Fraud We Trust speaks to the present moment as it offers answers for the future.