What is it about our national/worldwide climate that seems to 'encourage' occupational fraud?Right now--and in the near past--the media has really...

I would argue that there is nothing in our national
climate that makes occupational fraud more likely.  Furthermore, I doubt that it is more
common now than in past times.  Instead, I believe that there is something in our
national climate that makes it more fashionable for the media to focus on this sort of
crime.

I think that the main factor involved here is income
inequality and the immense wealth of some people involved in the highest levels of
business (especially in the financial sector).  I think that the fact that there are
some really rich people who do so much better than the rest of us leads to some amount
of class anger aimed at the rich.  I think that we tend to resent them and feel that
they are taking unfair advantage of the rest of us.

Because
of this, when a Bernie Madoff or a Ken Lay comes to light, it plays into our
preconceptions.  The media focuses on it and we pay attention because it supports our
beliefs about the rich.

Overall, then, I think we are more
sensitive to occupational fraud because of the rising income inequality in the
US.