In the time of widespread “fake news,” it’s easy to think of lying as bad and damaging. After all, parents and schools teach children honesty as part of moral upbringing. Acts of fraud, misdirection, and manipulation by politicians and corporations are also called out on the news under the banner of justice. One example is financier Bernard Madoff who ran a Ponzi scheme for years in the United States that stole almost $65 billion from thousands of investors.