Culture of cheaters and excuse makers

Everyone's cheating -according to an article in yesterday's Toronto Star.
And apparently, on balance, they're prospering.
Students fake their way to the top. Business leaders deceive shareholders and make millions. Couples cheat on each other for sport. and athletes go for the inside edge by playing fast and loose with the rules.
We are becoming a culture of cheaters and excuse-makers, researchers say. We cut ethical corners and defend ourselves by insisting everyone is doing it.
I don't want to pretend that the above are my ideas unlike George Bush's aid who lifted ideas from a Dartmouth essay and Barack Obama who also felt comfortable lifting ideas from someone else's work.
Interesting thought: if we keep copying each others work, could we create a loop of ideas that just keep circulating and very little new thought emerges?
Researchers claim that this lack of values is more prevalent during times of prosperity-is there a link? Whatever happened to hard work and sometimes, we must acknowledge luck?
Will the anticipated recession create a more moral society? Would like to read what the researchers find during times of economic difficulty when people are more desperate to succeed.
Off to play tennis and hope that my opponents make fair line calls.