Three Ethical Dimensions of the Financial Crisis

Abstract:     
It has often been said that the financial crisis which has been hitting the world economy since mid-2007 is an ethical crisis. By studying the behaviors of the agents who made the decisions that led to the crisis, we do find evidence of many unethical mistakes. But bad conduct was also present before the crisis and in countries unaffected by it: that the crisis has an ethical dimension does not mean that this is its only cause. In this paper we argue that this is a crisis of leadership or governance of a wide range of institutions, which, in turn, reflects the failure of an economic and social model supported by certain anthropological and ethical assumptions, and these are what failed.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 18

Keywords: Ethics, Financial Crisis, Firm, Social ethics

working papers series