like you go to the not-believing-until-seeing convention with lies and what? expect to get away with it?
That’s only because money exists. If you removed money from the equation, clout would be the new currency that everyone lies and cheats for.
But being caught in a lie would destroy your clout instantly. If they’re competing for clout there would be a big incentive to prove the competition wrong.
There is something to that, in that money gained will be kept (unless lawsuits can claw it away for fraud), but with both scenarios the ethically lacking individual would still have enjoyed the time until they were caught and future money/clout would both be hampered.
As for competition, that sounds the same to me. There is already competition for positions and grants, etc.
