Even before Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments,
Judeo-Christian tradition stressed the importance of having a set of overarching
values embedded within the financial system if we wish to have a
sustainable market economy.
This cannot just be codified in the hope that controls will compel
wider ethical behaviour. It won’t. Ethics have to be taught as well as caught.
What
the recent Co-op debacle in the UK reminded us (appropriate for an Easter reflection) is that we
all fall short of the mark.
So,
while we are all capable of acting on the prompting of our consciences but we
also need to practise a new calibration, away from legacy laissez-faire,
moral setting and towards an enlightened sustainable self-interest.
The key message of Easter is that good can come out of bad situations.
