Welcome to Money Values

Do Money and Morals Mix?

9 June 1997

Jobless economic growth and rising unemployment, increasing gaps between rich and poor (the "haves" and "have-nots"), environmental degradation, community disempowerment - these are just some of the enormous challenges which we face in our modern world. In South Africa, these issues seem to be magnified by our current transition to democracy and globalisation.

All of these issues are tightly entwined with economics and business and have major moral / ethical issues which need to be recognised and addressed. Solutions and alternatives which are rooted in positive values also need to be sought out and examined thoroughly. This will be the undertaking of future articles in the Money Values series. You can look forward to probing commentry addressing questions like:

• Can the world afford more economic growth without sacrificing development?
• Is GDP an adequate measure of progress and what do other indicators say?
• What is the price of Nature and is it ethical to try to give it an economic value?
• How can communities regain some control over their economic destinies?
• How does social auditing help in implementing the "stakeholder approach" in business?
• How would a multi-tiered currency system work and why is it desirable?
• What is ethical investment and does it pay?
• Do environmental management systems in business help or hinder sustainability?
• Are we discounting our children's futures away with our interest-based investment decisions?
• Is global free trade (as promoted by GATT and WTO) really free, and is it fair?
• How are community businesses and financial institutions different?
• Do the world's ancient religions have anything practical to offer modern economics?
• Are financial traders speculating with tax-payers' money and can they crash the entire system?

The economic insititutions and systems of the world are too dominant today for us to ignore the effects they are having on our lives. It is time to question who is slave and who is master. Is the world our money is creating one we can believe in and leave to future generations with a clear conscience? I look forward to you joining me on the journey of finding answers to these critical questions!