When Wall Street executives don’t think twice about the morality of selling their billion-dollar clients securities that are designed to go bust, and even joke about it, there’s little hope for the little guy in our financial system.

Anyone who has held a credit card account in the last few years knows that the banks who issue them are masters of the omission, the bait-and-switch and even the outright damn dirty lie.  Even after the passage of the CARD Act, banks are finding new ways to make reality a lot less attractive than what they pitched you.  The latest trend is pulling the rug out from under cardholders who thought that they had a great rewards program and now find that  it’s increasingly difficult to cash out those benefits.

Even before the days of 10% unemployment it wasn’t hard to find employers offering what seemed like dream jobs, only to deliver fewer hours, more grunt work or deplorable conditions after they got you to accept.  A month in to my first job I learned this firsthand when my business cards arrived with a different title than the one that I was promised.  A mini revolt by my training class corrected things, but taught me a valuable life lesson about how corporations treat people who don’t have leverage.

So in a world where everyone you do business with seems to operate with the shady deal as their default, it makes very little economic sense for you to always play things on the up-and-up.

In our current version of capitalism, winners and losers are often determined by what’s known as asymmetrical information, or both parties not having access to the same data.  While employers and creditors have access to your credit file, education records and other goodies, you can still work the shades of gray to your advantage.

Now I don’t advocate telling whoppers in your dealings with businesses, especially when it can make matters worse than telling the truth.  Don’t lie about where you worked or your dates of employment, because it’s too easy to verify. Don’t lie about your income to get a mortgage you can’t afford because like so many Americans, you’ll end up in foreclosure.

But do hint at other job offers you have if you think it can get you a better salary or benefits and you’re willing to lose the offer at hand.  Do tell the car dealer that you’re interested in another company’s make and model, even if your heart is set on the red Chevy with the headlights that you must have.  You will get negotiating leverage.  Do tell your credit card company that you’re considering moving to a new bank, even if you have no intention of ever doing that.  These are all things that are impossible to verify, and all give you a leg up in negotiations.

There are a million things that we don’t do because our moms told us it was wrong, but it’s time to think about what the other guy may be willing to say or do to get at your hard-earned dollars.  Don’t be a chump.  Leave your ethics at the door of the finance office and work the system.

Like Denzel Washington said in Training Day, “It’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove.”

One Response to “White Lies Can Put You in the Black”