What the Jeffrey Epstein Case Says About Elite Men

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Every so often a story comes along that causes me to update my priors — that is, to rethink what I thought I knew. The recent spate of news about Jeffrey Epstein is such a story.

All the facts are not yet known, and maybe never will be, but let me be clear: I am not one to believe in conspiracy theories, and this case is no exception. I believe Epstein committed suicide and was not a murder victim. Nonetheless, some details of this story are much stranger than anything I had been suspecting.

The big surprise is not about how many men mistreat women. The revelations of the #MeToo movement were long overdue and such behavior had been widely observed, and inexcusably tolerated, by many people working in institutions. The surprise is how much such bad behavior was socially organized around a single man. In short, I am astonished by how deeply some bad actors were willing to trust each other while engaging in their bad behavior.

This, in turn, has prompted me to revise my estimate of the degree of social segregation within groups of elite men. Epstein and his circle reportedly procured young women for such groups. I know many male elites, but had never heard this rumor, at least not before the Epstein revelations. That is a kind of “loyalty among thieves” outcome. Even when the #MeToo revelations were pouring out, people were saying both that this kind of behavior was far more widespread than commonly believed (true), and that far more men were complicit in it (also quite true). There was not as much discussion about what goes on in organized gangs of elites.

Next, many of the men to whom Epstein is alleged to have “sent” women are sufficiently wealthy or high status that they could have attracted or hired those or other women on their own. Leaving aside any moral failings this episode reveals about these men, the question presents itself: Why did they go through Epstein, incurring reputational and possibly legal risk and potentially opening themselves up to blackmail?

I am now, at the margin, more inclined to the view that what keeps many people on good behavior is simply inertia. They are oddly passive in their core inclinations, but will behave badly if given an easy opportunity. And since many of these people probably are not active independent malefactors on a regular basis, their sense of risk may not be entirely well developed. Thus they themselves may have been fairly naïve in their dealings with Epstein, not quite understanding that their invulnerability in everyday life might not carry over to all situations.

I also now believe that there are people — Epstein among them — who can sense when other elite men are open to illegal, immoral or illicit experiences. Epstein seems to have been highly skilled at recruiting men who would accept the basic setup, while avoiding those who would object or go public. It had not previously occurred to me that such a skill existed and might prove so influential.

The other main strand of my thought has been to focus on the money. Where did Epstein get so much money in the first place, with an estimated fortune of more than $500 million?

I understand why the public and media pay attention to the sex and the crimes. But a complete understanding of this saga will come only by tracing the money, as would a diligent accountant and auditor. My best guess is that the crookedness of our world extends far beyond the more prurient activities thus far reported.

There are also reports that famous and wealthy Americans used Epstein to channel their donations to elite and Ivy League schools. Why might they do this? Was it a ploy to pay off Epstein while getting around the scrutiny of their own accountants? Was it simple misguided generosity, based on a false sense of trust? Or was it part of some more complex network of selfishly motivated financial transactions? And were the universities totally in the dark about the stories behind the donations?

Again, I do not know the answers to these questions. But in the end they offer the best hope of finding out whether American elites, even after the Epstein saga, are violating the most basic principles of integrity in their financial dealings.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Tyler Cowen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a professor of economics at George Mason University and writes for the blog Marginal Revolution. His books include "Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero."

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.