If you were running a government, a very expensive one at that, and were offered the opportunity to use your authority to compel businesses to pay out a few billion dollars or, in the alternative, lock up a few corporate executives for a couple of years, what would you do?

Pharmaceutical companies, military contractors, banks and other corporations are on track to pay as much as $8 billion this year to resolve charges of defrauding the government, analysts say — a record sum and more than twice the amount assessed last year by the Justice Department.

The surge in penalties is because of a number of factors, including the resolution of longstanding actions against drug makers and military contractors, as well as lawsuits brought against mortgage lenders after the financial crisis. But it also reflects a renewed emphasis on corporate fraud, as the Justice Department devotes more resources to the issue and demands higher penalties from companies.

Maybe, but probably not.  It’s not that there’s any lack of generic corporate fraud, big companies doing what they’ve been doing for decades, maybe even generations, but it’s hardly new. Entire economies have been created based on lies, but we accepted that nothing could be trusted completely and puffery was part of the game.  In the 1950s, everything was “new and improved,” even though the only change was a smaller box and higher price.  But we bought it anyway.

Corporate executives today perpetuate what their predecessors did, and for which they received awards and accolades as brilliant businessmen and great humanitarians.  If it was always done that way, and everybody knew about it, how can it suddenly be so wrong?

At the same time, these companies employ us. Our brothers and sisters, cousins and friends all get paychecks with their names on it. These are the jobs we hear so much about during political campaigns.  When the Justice Department collects a few billion from a company, that’s a few billion less to use to pay your cousin.  Plus, the company needs to make it back, lest its stock options reflect a poor quarter, which means they will be offering “new and improved” products.

This isn’t to say that fraud is good, or even acceptable.  That we turned a blind eye to it for decades reflects a priority that favored corporate profits over people.  But now that the government sees it as an untapped revenue stream, things are changing.

The ballooning settlements are for civil charges of fraud against the government, criminal charges often related to the same conduct and, in the case of health care companies, recovery of money for states for Medicaid fraud.

But while the collections are a boon to the government and taxpayers, they are resurrecting questions about the relative lack of charges against executives at the companies that are getting the stiffest penalties.

Don’t jump to conclusions. The government isn’t concerned that companies are defrauding you (or me), but it.  And don’t jump to conclusions that the government’s notion of fraud bears any resemblance to what anyone else considers fraud.  And don’t jump to conclusions that the huge penalties will be used to relieve your tax burden or make your life better.  While the penalties are astronomical, there is no discernable benefit to be found.

The begged question, if there are such significant crimes being committed, where are the corporate executives being thrown in prison, is a good one.  But the answer isn’t that the government doesn’t care about prosecuting corporate criminals. The answer is that the crimes aren’t really very criminal. The answer is that the proof of criminality isn’t there.  The answer is that the government goes after the low hanging fruit, corporate money, because it can’t make a case against individuals who won’t lay down and die like the corporate board of directors. 

From the corporate perspective, there is little will to fight.  The money doesn’t come from the directors’ pockets, and they are given extremely high-priced advice from smart lawyers who worked for the DOJ the day before that, after thoroughly investigating the government’s allegations until the Board gets tired of legal bills coming in, the smart cost/benefit analysis is to settle up with the government and get back to business.

Everybody is happy. The Board can issue a press release about how they’re working with the government to clean up their act to better serve you. The government can issue a press release about how it’s made the world safe for you.  The lawyers have sucked every last dime out of the corporation before signing off on the settlement. And everybody involved in the process can pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

Except you. And me. We pay for this game, in the loss of jobs. In the price of goods and services. In money that would otherwise flow through the economy and instead is lost in the black hole of government.  And shockingly, nothing seems to get any better as a result of this glorious government effort. Our products remain as good/bad as ever. Our environment is no healthier.  Our health care no more effective. 

The only change?

The most recent cases involve wrongdoing at some of the largest and most prominent companies. Last month, for example, GlaxoSmithKline said it would pay $3 billion to settle criminal and civil accusations of drug marketing and pricing fraud. In April, the military contractor ATK Launch Systems agreed to a $37 million settlement for selling “dangerous and defective” flares to the military.

In November, Merck settled charges of drug marketing and safety fraud for $950 million. A month earlier, Oracle agreed to pay $199.5 million after being accused of overbilling the government for software.

In the past three years, $8.6 billion has been sucked out of our economy, at the same time as Americans go begging for jobs to survive.  These numbers don’t prove that crimes occurred, or that they reflect a level of harm to society, but that the government has figured out how to use its power more effectively and corporations have demonstrated their lack of will to resist. 

And when it’s all over, it’s the loss of this money, the jobs they represent, and the perpetuation of the same old “new and improved” culture for products and services that comprise the universe available to us.  For this, the government expects our appreciation for a job well done.  And we applaud its efforts and dutifully comply.