David Callahan

David Callahan is the author of The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead. The book has sparked a national dialogue with Callahan featured on numerous television and radio programs. A social phenomenon, over 100 newspapers and magazines have featured stories and reviews about the book.

In The Cheating Culture, Callahan offers explanations for the proliferation of cheating. In a cutthroat economic climate, everybody wants to get ahead, and decades of deregulation have made it easy to bend the rules. He argues that when the middle class sees wealthy cheaters get away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, it inspires them to follow suit. He lectures frequently about issues of ethics and integrity to universities, associations, and businesses.

Callahan has written extensively about American history, business, and public policy, one of his five previous books being Kindred Spirits: Harvard Business School's Extraordinary Class of 1949 and How They Transformed American Business.

His articles have appeared in The American Prospect, The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post. Callahan has also been a frequent commentator on television programs on CBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and PBS and has been a regular guest on radio talk shows across the United States, including appearances such NPR programs as “The Connection,” “Morning Edition,” and “The Tavis Smiley Show.”

Callahan is co-founder of the independent think tank, Demos, a public policy center based in New York City that combines research and advocacy to strengthen democracy and expand economic opportunity within the United States. It focuses on creating an open resource of knowledge and learning that operates beyond traditional parties, identities and disciplines.
Previous to co-founding Demos, Callahan was a Fellow at the Century Foundation engaging in wide ranging public policy research and analysis.