Interesting piece in the New York Times about future business leaders claiming they will be more ethical. According to the piece, about one out of five of the Harvard Business School graduating class have signed "The MBA Oath" pledging to serve the greater good and refrain from advancing their own "narrow ambitions" at the expense of others.

It's a fascinating development because it happens bang in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Which raises an obvious question: how many would have been prepared to be ethical when the market was booming?

That's exactly the question that makes me wonder how real this trend, and whether it will vanish when markets pick up again. My skepticism is shared by the Seeking Alpha blog which pointedly observes that lawyers taking oaths has done little to clean up that profession.

As it says: "Forgive the skepticism, but I rather suspect that the first time one of these kids quotes his oath to some MD at an investment banking firm he's more than likely to receive a suggestion as to what he can do with his idealism. Business, particularly the type of business most of these students have been trained for, is a pretty cut throat enterprise. Always has been, always will be. It doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice basic ethical standards or lie, cheat and steal to get ahead but it does mean that you can't be too prissy about the way you get your deal done."

So is this just a fad or the real thing. I do hope I'm wrong, but we should watch this space.