The assumption is that the favour will be paid back at some time in the future.
People show consideration for others in the hope or expectation that the favour will be returned.
It is wrong for donors to give money, and for politicians to accept it, on the understanding that a specific favour will be granted in exchange.
I know of many professors at world-class universities who put their friends on papers, confident that the favour will be returned in due course.
A more cynical explanation is that senior executives have their pay set by their peers, who therefore have a strong incentive to aim high in the hope that the favour will be returned at some point.
With defeat not an option for England on Saturday night, anything that can swing the result in their favour will be more than welcome for the hosts and their supporters.
Uefa remain confident that legal action against its FFP rules will be defeated and that a crucial European Commission decision in its favour will be made in the next fortnight.
When outsiders do get jobs, it is often because a deal has been done with another university, on the understanding that the favour will be returned in the future.The problems of secondary education look mild by comparison with those of Italy's public universities.
